Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Arsenal midfielder Santi Cazorla apologises for expletive-chant picture with Robert Pires

Cazorla was appearing with the Gunners' legend on French TV when a fan asked for a picture posing with and infamous Arsenal chant written on a piece of paper

Jack de Menezes
Tuesday 21 January 2014 10:14 EST
Comments
Current Arsenal midfielder Santi Cazorla and former player Robert Pires pose with a female fan holding an expletive-ridden chant aimed towards Tottenham supporters
Current Arsenal midfielder Santi Cazorla and former player Robert Pires pose with a female fan holding an expletive-ridden chant aimed towards Tottenham supporters (Twitter)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Arsenal midfielder Santi Cazorla has apologised to Tottenham supporters following the emergence of a picture in which he appeared to mock Spurs with a well-known football chant written on a piece of paper, as he posed alongside Gunners’ legend Robert Pires and an unnamed female Arsenal fan.

The pair were appearing on French TV when the picture was taken backstage. The woman, a fan of the Premier League leaders, got Cazorla to hold the piece of paper which read the expletive-ridden chant: “What do we think of Tottenham? S***! What do we think of s***? Tottenham!”

It was unsurprising that the image posted on social media site Twitter was quickly retweeted over 1,400 times, with the Spanish international soon issuing an apology via his own official account.

“Our apoligizes to the Totenham fans, we couldn't see the paper. #alwaysfootballalwaysrespect” wrote Cazorla, with reports coming that he had been forced to apologise at the request of his club.

They are not the first Gunners to try and provoke their fierce rivals, with both Theo Walcott and Wojciech Szczesny angering them in recent weeks while Lukas Podolski claimed he would rather retire that play for Spurs.

Walcott received a barrage of coins and bottles when he teased the away fans at the Emirates by making a hand gesture to signal the 2-0 scoreline during their FA Cup encounter at the beginning of the month, while Szczesny took to his personal Facebook account to post “wonderful scenes at the Etihad…” during their 6-0 demolition at the hands of Manchester City.

Walcott was reminded of his responsibilities by the FA, though no further action was taken, while an investigation was launched following the flurry of missiles launched from the Spurs end aimed towards the England winger, who was being carried from the pitch on a stretcher having ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in