James McClean's wife has jokingly thanked Piers Morgan for his 'support' over her husband's decision not to wear a poppy.
The broadcaster took to Twitter to say that he believes footballers should not be made to wear 'symbols about any political or social issues'.
He was tweeting after Idrissa Gueye came under fire after he failed to feature in Paris St Germain’s 4-0 win over Montpellier on Saturday, which was the weekend Ligue 1 had chosen for its clubs to show solidarity ahead of International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia this week.
The French side wore rainbow-coloured numbers to show their support for the LGBTQ+ community but Gueye was absent for “personal reasons” having also missed the corresponding fixture last year.
Morgan wrote online: "Footballers shouldn’t be compelled to wear symbols about any political or social issues if they don’t want to. Nobody should."
Replying to the tweet. McClean's wife Erin commented: "Nice one Piers… james said thanks for your support."
McClean has been singled out for sectarian abuse from football fans in England throughout his career over his decision not to wear a poppy on his jersey.
Erin previously spoke out about the abuse the couple have received.
She said: “I even remember once someone threatened him saying they were taking a gun with them to a certain match and I can still remember watching that match in absolute fear on the TV.”
She added: “There isn’t a day that goes by that either one of us don’t receive a message of some sort, whether it be a threat, or else telling us to get the f*** out of England.”
In July 2020, McClean criticised figures in and around the game for the lack of support he has received for racial and sectarian abuse.
He told talkSPORT: “I’m seeing all this support for McGoldrick, Zaha, (Raheem) Sterling and that and rightly so, I don’t want to take away from the attention and the support they are getting because it is bang on.
“The point I was trying to make was it leaves a sour taste in my mouth because I am seeing all this support (and) I’m thinking, ‘I’ve been abused for the last nine years and where has my support been? Where has been my level of attention?’
“I’m not looking for attention but, in my mind, discrimination is discrimination.
“But it almost seems that one holds a higher precedence over another and that’s what irritates me. I’m not looking for sympathy or attention, I’m just asking for equality.”
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