A football fan will appear in court next month after pleading guilty to racially abusing former England defender Rio Ferdinand in the wake of last summer’s Euro 2020 final.
Robert Whippe, 54, pleaded guilty to two counts of sending a grossly offensive message to Ferdinand in July last year and will appear at St Albans Magistrates’ Court on March 1 to be sentenced.
Whippe sent the messages in the wake of England’s Euro 2020 defeat to Italy, which they lost on penalties.
The 54-year-old took to Twitter to post his views about Ferdinand’s commentary using racist derogatory emojis.
Whippe was interviewed by the police under caution and admitted posting the two tweets, but denied any racist intent and claimed the emojis were chosen at random.
The CPS review of the case and Hertfordshire Police investigation sought to prove that the use of these emojis is most commonly connected with racism against black people.
