The English Premier League started its new season on the 8th of August and already controversy has surrounded Leicester City Footballer Jamie Vardy for his exploits at a poker table in July.
When Vardy and his fiancé entered a local casino in July they expected to have a fun night playing poker games but things quickly turned ugly at the table as Vardy is reported to have got upset and used racial slurs against another player at the same table.
Based on Vardy’s account, a poker player of East Asian decent was trying to take a sneak peak at Vardy’s hold cards and this angered the football player.
Vardy reportedly used a racial slur against the East Asian poker player and then took it to the next level by challenging yet another player at the table to a scrap outside the casino. Also present at the table were Ritchie De Laet and David Nugent who are Vardy’s teammates at Leicester City. A witness who was at the casino when the incident took place stated that Vardy behaved like an animal and his behavior was anything but professional. However, there were not accusations directed at Vardy’s finance Rebekah Nicholson or his two team mates.
In light of these accusations, Vardy has issued an apology stating that he made an error of judgment at the casino table and wholeheartedly apologized for his unprofessional behavior. The CCTV’s at the cameras have apparently recorded the incident and Leicester City has asked to review the footage.
In a statement, Leicester City officials said
Leicester City pays Vardy an annual salary that is around $3.6 million and coach Claudio Ranieri believes that his striker Vardy is a fantastic player who is a great on-field example for his team mates. The July incident does not appear to have thrown Vardy of his game as the 28 year old striker scored in the 11th minute of Leicester City’s first match against Sunderland to give his side their first win of the EPL as the match ended 4-2 in favor of Sunderland.
