West Ham United midfielder Declan Rice will face no punishment from the club or the Football Association for his misguided social media post, according to Claret & Hugh.
The reliable Hammers news source claims that the Hammers are in no mood to punish the 20-year-old after an old Instagram post of Rice’s which appeared to express support for the IRA emerged recently.
The FA have written to the youngster to remind him of his responsibilities, but both parties appear to have decided to chalk this one down to a youthful, naive transgression.
The West Ham star delivered a public apology this week and expressed regret for his actions.
OPINION
This is probably the right call. If Rice had made a post like this now, as a 20-year-old man, rather than a teenage boy then it would be a different story, of course, but the fact is that he made a mistake as a youngster, as we all do. Not all of us express support for a terrorist organisation, but you imagine that the comment was made in jest, misguided, stupid and wrong as it was. He shouldn’t have done it but these things happen in this day and age. Social media is a minefield that young footballers have to learn to navigate, something which simply wasn’t the case for past generations. Rice’s mistake will hopefully be a lesson to all youngsters that they need to be careful about what they put out on social media because it can come back to haunt you. The FA reminding the player of his responsibilities is a good thing, though, and hopefully he will learn from this experience and grow as a person as a result of it.
