THE BBC have apologised for a tweet suggesting Ireland star Seamus Coleman was "worried" about how Everton fans would react to his donation to a fundraiser for stricken Liverpool supporter Sean Cox.
Coleman, 30, revealed last month that he was moved to make a generous €5,000 donation to the Irish dad's GoFundMe page after he saw LFC boss Jurgen Klopp do the same.
"We have to be together. I think football is great for sticking together. Rivalries go out the window with stuff like that; you don’t see a crest or a jersey, you see a man who came to support his team and unfortunately it didn’t end too well for him that night," he said.
However, the Beeb posted a tweet incorrectly suggesting that Coleman was concerned about how his gesture would be interpreted by Everton fans:
The post prompted a huge backlash online from fans of both Merseyside clubs, including Liverpool FC's Head of Club and Supporter Liaison Tony Barrett.
BBC Sport online editor Ian Singleton quickly responded to clarify the error after taking the tweet down.
"Hi Tony. We got this one wrong – it was an error on the website which the Twitter account took the wording from," he said.
"I apologise for this – & assure you it was not intentional. The tweet has been deleted & the story amended. Thanks to all for flagging."
Hi Tony. We got this one wrong - it was an error on the website which the Twitter account took the wording from. I apologise for this - & assure you it was not intentional. The tweet has been deleted & the story amended. Thanks to all for flagging.
— Ian Singleton (@iansingleton1) 7 November 2018
Co. Meath native Mr Cox, 54, remains in hospital recovering from his attack by Roma fans outside Anfield before Liverpool's Champions League semi-final against the Italian side in April.
The father-of-two's wife Martina told Ryan Tubridy on The Late Late Show last month that Sean "is making progress, it's small steps".
She added: "Obviously we’re taking every step as a positive because that’s what you do when you’re in this situation. We communicate with him. He can say 'yes' and 'no' and do the thumbs up."
Martina Cox bravely talks about how the last few months have been for her and her family #latelate pic.twitter.com/KL9enW7wtm
— The Late Late Show (@RTELateLateShow) 26 October 2018
If you would like to donate to Sean Cox's fundraising effort, click here
