Arsenal Fan TV remove regular guest Claude 'indefinitely' for racist remark aimed at Tottenham's Heung-min Son

Claude (right) has been removed from the channel.
AFTV
Tony Mogan15 July 2020

Arsenal fan channel AFTV have removed regular guest Claude Callegari “indefinitely” after he made a racist comment directed at Tottenham forward Heung-min Son.

Callegari was a guest during AFTV's coverage of Sunday's north London derby and was heard saying "DVD's going off" when Son was substituted in the second-half.

The reference to selling DVDs is known to be a racist term when aimed at Asian footballers. In May 2019, a West Ham fan was fined for using the same term aimed once again aimed at Son during a Carabao Cup clash.

After the clip was widely shared on social media, Callegari appeared alongside channel owner Robbie Lyle in a new video where he attempted to explain the comment was not derogatory but in fact an attempt to mock Spurs. Callegari claimed the comment was a reference to Tottenham releasing a DVD to celebrate their 2-1 victory over Arsenal on Sunday.

After fierce backlash, Lyle posted a series of tweets on Tuesday apologising for the incident and the subsequent video and confirming Callegari will no longer appear on the channel.

In Pictures | Tottenham vs Arsenal, north London derby | 12/07/2020

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"I would like to sincerely apologise for the derogatory remark heard on the AFTV livestream on Sunday, and for the response video that we put out today where we failed to apologise and take onus for the comment.

“As a channel that has millions of viewers around the world, I fully recognise the power that comments made by myself or people on our platform have, and it is paramount that we do not allow comments of this nature to be made in any form.

“As such, it is only appropriate that Claude is removed from the channel indefinitely.

“In no way do I or AFTV condone racism of any kind and it is important we take appropriate action in line with the comment made."

Lyle also confirmed Callegari will undertake an education programme to 'understand the full severity of the remark made on Sunday'.

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