Ex-Arsenal midfielder Abou Diaby slams 'cowardly' comedian who mocked a disabled fan
'Beyond the personal insult, the lack of respect for people with disabilities revolts me'
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Your support makes all the difference.Injury-plagued Marseille midfielder Abou Diaby has described a comedian as "contemptuous and cowardly" after a sketch in which he mocked a disabled football fan.
Julian Cazarre, who works for the comedy football show J+1 on France's Canal+, made the gag on Sunday night following Marseille's game against Nantes.
With footage on screen showing a supporter in a wheelchair being pushed onto the pitch by a woman in a Marseille shirt, Cazerre quipped: "Ah, Abou Diaby is back in the squad!"
Although there were groans from the studio audience, the camera panned back to Cazarre who was giggling and holding his head in his hands.
Presenter Nicolas Tourriol then jokingly told Cazarre he deserved a red card.
But Diaby was much less forgiving. After the broadcast, the former Arsenal man took to Twitter to lambast Cazarre, saying the joke "revolts me".
"I rarely respond to personal attacks but I don't know what to say about Cazarre's scornful and cowardly humour yesterday on J+1," he said.
"Beyond the personal insult, the lack of respect for people with disabilities revolts me. Unprovoked, wounding and such little courage."
Diaby struggled with injury throughout his time in the Premier League, spending much of his nine years at Arsenal on the sidelines.
And the 30-year-old has suffered a similar fate since moving back to France in 2015, having made just two appearances this season before being ruled out with a long-term ankle injury.
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