Former England international footballer Trevor Sinclair is facing an investigation by his employer after posting on Twitter following the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
The Queen passed away on Thursday afternoon, with many taking to social media in the aftermath to express their thoughts.
Sinclair, who now works for TalkSport, played for QPR, West Ham United and Manchester City among others during a near-two decade career which also saw him win 12 senior caps for the national team.
However, his own tweet caused outrage from listeners to the radio channel he works with after he suggested that “black and brown” people should not need to “mourn” the passing of Elizabeth II as racism had been allowed to “thrive” under her reign.
“Racism was outlawed in England in the 60’s and its been allowed to thrive so why should black & brown mourn!! #queen,” [sic] he wrote on his Twitter account.
The 49-year-old received immediate replies from a number of users demanding he retract his opinion, while others - into the dozens - demanded he be sacked.
The official TalkSport account replied to his initial tweet, which - along with Sinclair’s account - has now been deleted, to say they had been unable to get in touch with him but were against the “views expressed” and would be looking into it further.
“We have been trying to make contact with Trevor Sinclair following opinions expressed on his Twitter account. talkSPORT does not support those views expressed and is investigating the matter,” the wrote.
Sinclair’s colleague and former Crystal Palace chairman Simon Jordan also replied to criticise the initial post, which he labelled inappropriate and divisive.
“Trev. I’m really not sure that is an appropriate thought, let alone tweet. The country has lost a very significant person and respect and value should be the over riding sentiments not division!” [sic] he wrote.
Some users shared screenshots of a previous post from Sinclair’s account in 2020, in which he labelled the Queen “genuine with humility” and saying “her majesty still inspired”.
In 2018 Sinclair was arrested for drink-driving and subsequently pleaded guilty to both that offence and a racially aggravated public order offence, having made racist comments to the police officer on the scene. He was given 150 hours of community service and a driving ban.
Sinclair’s account is no longer accessible and TalkSport have provided no further comment at this point.
