Leicester City star Jamie Vardy has been caught allegedly racially abusing a man in a casino, reports The Sun On Sunday.
The 28-year-old was playing poker early in the morning of July 26, when he thought a man was looking at his cards. This seemed to anger the footballer and his girlfriend, with the player repeatedly calling the man a ‘Jap’ in a foul-mouthed tirade.
The forward said: “Jap. Yo Jap. Walk on. Walk on . . . oi, walk on. Yeah you . . . Jap. Walk on.”
A witness also told The Sun: “It was awful. He then said, ‘Away’. His girlfriend says to the man, ‘You’ve been looking at his cards’. They rowed for a couple of minutes and then the other guy eventually walked off.”
The striker wasn’t finished there though, with a second gambler becoming the target of his anger. Teammate Richie De Laet ended up having to physically restrain the footballer.
The witness continued: “A guy politely pointed out to Vardy that you are allowed to watch a poker table as long as you don’t comment on the hand in play. That’s when he kicked right off — he went into an absolute rage. He started saying, ‘What the f*** has it got to do with you? Outside now’.
“Vardy stood up and went for him. One of the other players then got Vardy in a neck lock, to stop him having a go. He said, ‘Who the f*** do you think you are?’ Me and my girlfriend got up and left because we were so disgusted. We thought it was all going to go off.”
This isn’t the first time that the Foxes have had issues with racism, with several youth team players videoed taking part in a racist orgy during a goodwill visit to Bangkok. The trio, who included then manager Nigel Pearson’s son, were sacked. Pearson himself was also removed later in the summer, with the incident contributing to him leaving the King Power Stadium.
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It is unknown if the club’s Thai owners will take such measures again, with Vardy a far higher profile player. He made his England debut against Ireland in June, after playing in non-league football as recently as 2012.