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Stan Collymore calls for Paul Gascoigne to be banned from BT Sport after commentary snub

Former Liverpool striker takes to Twitter to express his anger towards BT Sport

Samuel Stevens
Saturday 21 February 2015 08:11 EST
(Getty)

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Stan Collymore has called for Paul Gascoigne to be banned from BT Sport just days after the former Liverpool striker was pulled from commentary for branding Rangers fans racist for singing sectarian songs.

The 44-year-old pundit was due to commentate on the Scottish Championship club's clash with Raith Rovers but was dropped by the broadcaster after comments made on Twitter about members of the Ibrox faithful.

Gascoigne, on the other hand, is set to appear on the channel's 'Fletch and Sav' chat show tomorrow morning alongside Russell Brand before Tottenham's meeting with West Ham at White Hart Lane.

But Collymore, posting on the social media site, said: "If Gazza is well enough then he should be held to the same account as I’ve been and not be allowed on."

Making reference to that incident, among others, Collymore had initially posted: "Play the wee flute? Multiple arrests? Serial wife beater? Welcome to @btsportfootball on Sunday!"

The former Aston Villa and Leicester City striker then revealed that he and 'eight friends' had cancelled their subscription to the digital sports channel after questioning the broadcaster's decision to book Gascoigne.

He added: "And if Gazza isn't well still @ArsenalMiami then I'll be asking questions as to why a mainstream broadcaster why a sick man is on TV."

Collymore previously revealed that BT Sport had removed him from their coverage of the Rangers fixture, but insisted that it is 'better to be right than bury my head'.

A spokesman from the channel said last night: "We at BT Sport abhor all forms of racism. It should not be tolerated in sport.

"Last night, we withdrew a one-off invitation to Stan Collymore to appear on BT Sport as a commentator. The invitation was withdrawn because we did not agree with the nature of the debate that Stan launched on Twitter.

"We also disapproved of attempts to draw BT Sport into the ensuing controversy.

"This doesn’t amount to a sacking, as he’s not an employee. We don’t think withdrawing one invitation to Stan amounts to censorship.

"He’s free to express his opinions, as he is continuing to do, on Twitter for example."

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