Eric Bristow dropped by Sky after Twitter rant about football sex abuse victims

Dropped: Eric Bristow will not appear on Sky again
Andrew Redington/Getty Images
Tom Powell29 November 2016

Darts pundit Eric Bristow has been dropped by Sky over a “disgusting” and “homophobic” Twitter rant about the child sex abuse scandal gripping football.

The five-time world champion, who has regularly appeared on Sky Sports, suggested that victims of child sex abuse in football were not “proper men” like “tough guy” darts players.

The series of controversial claims made from his official Eric Bristow MBE Twitter account were immediately met with a barrage of angry responses.

The Football Association is currently investigating child sex abuse claims after more than 20 players revealed they were abused by paedophile coach Barry Bennell at Crewe Alexandra and Manchester City youth teams.

Backlash: Social media users reacted with outrage over tweets posted on Mr Bristow's account
Eric Bristow/Twitter

Mr Bristow said: “Might be a looney but if some football coach was touching me when i was a kid as i got older i would have went back and sorted that p**f out.”

“U got to sort him out when u get older or don’t look in the mirror glad i am a dart player proper men.”

He added: "Bet the rugby boys are ok ha ha."

Sky has now confirmed that Mr Bristow, who was awarded an MBE in 1989 for his services to sport, will not be appearing on the network as a pundit again.

They said: "He was a contributor to our darts coverage in the past but we will not be using him in the future."

Bennell was given a four-year sentence for raping a British boy on a football tour of Florida in 1994 and then a nine-year sentence in 1998 for 23 offences against six boys in England.

One victim, Chris Unsworth, claimed Bennell raped him up to 100 times.

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