Matt Le Tissier quits Southampton FC role after backlash against Ukraine tweet
Southampton football legend Matt Le Tissier has stepped down from his role as an ambassador for Saints following a string of controversial tweets about the war in Europe.
Taking to Twitter on Wednesday morning (April 6), the Southampton veteran who was born in Guernsey, posted: "To all the fans of SFC. I have decided to step aside from my role as an ambassador of SFC.
"My views are my own and always have been, and it’s important to take this step today to avoid any confusion.
"This does not affect my relationship with and love for my club, and I will always remain a fan and supporter of everything Saints.
"I can, however, see that due to recent events it’s important to separate the work I believe in from my relationship with the club I have supported and played for most of my life."
His announcement comes just a day after he appeared to support a tweet suggesting the media have lied about the ongoing war in Ukraine.
The tweet, posted by Unity News Network, said "The media lied about Weapons of Mass Destruction. The media lied about Covid. The media lied about the Hunter Biden laptop.
"But honestly they are telling the truth about Bucha!"
Le Tissier later deleted the post, following a barrage of negative reaction from his followers, explaining on Twitter, "Deleted previous tweet as people as usual missing the point, the point was about the media manipulation but you knew that really."
Ukrainian officials say the bodies of hundreds of civilians have been found in Bucha, one of the towns around the capital Kyiv.
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited the town earlier this week, describing the scenes as 'sickening'.
He said “dead people have been found in barrels, basements, strangled, tortured" in Bucha and other areas near the capital.
It is not the first time 53-year-old Le Tissier has come under fire for his controversial views on social media.
In a tweet posted on 29 March, Le Tissier appeared to criticise the Government's handling of the Covid-19 pandemic.
He posted: "Just heard an advert on the radio warning people about online misinformation, this is the best bit….. at the end they direct you to a government website."
Le Tissier spent his entire professional career with Saints before he moved to non-League football in 2002.
His loyalty to Southampton led to fans nicknaming him "Le God". He played a total of 540 times for Southampton in the Premier League, scoring 209 goals.
He also played eight times for England.