Former Norwich City sporting director Stuart Webber is forced to apologise after he sparked fury by claiming Raheem Sterling and four other black players ‘would be in jail if it didn’t work out in football’
Former Norwich City sporting director Stuart Webber has apologized after comments he made in an interview with a local newspaper about Raheem Sterling and several other black players.
Webber, who left the Canary Islands in November, said RozeUn that Sterling, Max Aarons and three other black players would be in jail if there was no football.
The comments came in an article in which Webber discussed his upcoming attempt to climb Mount Everest for charity next month.
Webber had said: ‘We want to help the boys who really need it, not those who might be privileged. I saw that with our young football players.
‘Jonny Rowe wouldn’t mind me saying it, but him, Abu Kamara, Max (Aarons), Jamal (Lewis), Raheem (Sterling) used to be at Liverpool, where they come from, it had to work for them in football , because the alternative might be a prison sentence or something else.”
Former Norwich City sporting director Stuart Webber has apologized after comments he made in an interview with a local newspaper about Raheem Sterling and several other black players
Webber said Sterling and four others could have ended up in jail if things had not worked out in football
In response to the shocking comments in the interview – which went out on Saturday and is still online at the time of writing – the mirror reported that all players and their families were furious, shocked and deeply offended.
One of the players reportedly asked Webber for an explanation after contacting him directly.
And according to Air sportsWebber has now apologized to the players in question after contacting them and their families.
Webber was Liverpool’s recruitment director from 2009 to 2012, with Sterling joining Liverpool in 2010 at the age of 15.
Webber subsequently held positions as head of scouting at QPR and Wolves, before becoming sporting director at Huddersfield Town between 2015 and 2017.
The 39-year-old then moved to Norwich, where he spent six years in the role until his departure in November.
The four other players Webber mentioned relate to his days at Norwich, with right-back Aarons moving to Bournemouth for £7million in August after coming through the ranks at Carrow Road.
Meanwhile, Lewis broke into the Norwich team at the same time before leaving for Newcastle in 2020, with the left-back currently on loan at Watford.
One of the other players Webber referred to was former Norwich right-back Max Aarons
Norwich star Jonathan Rowe was also mentioned by Webber as potentially facing jail time
Rowe, 20, is a winger and one of Norwich’s star players, while Kamara is on loan at Portsmouth for the season after joining the club’s Carrow Road youth academy at the age of 10.
Local outlet PinkUn is also reportedly under fire, with questions being raised about how Webber’s comments in the interview went unchallenged.
In response, Troy Townsend, head of player development at anti-racism charity Kick It Out, said: ‘Racial profiling of current and former players. Football or prison, is it? Absolute disgrace!’
There was also a publicly angry response from the players’ relatives, with Aarons’ mother, Amber, accusing Webber of “casual racism.”
She posted on As a mother of @maxaarons2 and a good friend of mother @jamal_lewis1, I know there is no way any of those boys would have been in jail right now.”
Lewis’ mother, Catrina, also said, “That’s not true at all…. Very unprofessional comment to make!!! How can that assumption be made Stuart???’, before Aarons’ mother replied: ‘Inherent racism, I can’t think of more professional and level-headed people than the players SW has labeled.’
The times told how Amber juggled her corporate job with getting Aarons to training and matches during his growing up years, while the player’s father Mike hired a skills coach at £70 an hour to help the right-back’s career.
The players, which also included Jamal Lewis (left – No. 6) and Abu Kamara (right – No. 25), were reportedly upset, shocked and enraged by Webber’s comments to local outlet PinkUn.
Aarons was also originally in Luton’s youth system, but left to better balance football with his studies while taking GCSEs.
Meanwhile, Lewis’s mother, Catrina, has worked on community projects in Belfast and coached her son in athletics during his early years.
Lewis, who has won 34 caps for Northern Ireland, has also set up his own mental health charity and campaigned for anti-racism work, while joining the likes of Gareth Bale, Rio Ferdinand and Marcus Rashford in a campaign to tackle online hate fuses. three years ago.
Webber’s comments also sparked outrage from several Norwich fans as the comments were branded ‘disgraceful’, ‘appalling’ and ’embarrassing’, while others urged him to ‘apologise for his abhorrent racism’.
Webber’s views on the five players come after he also made controversial comments about women’s football last year.
Speaking in May, the 39-year-old openly admitted he did not watch women’s football despite having invested in that side of the sport at the club, whose side play in the FA Women’s National League Division One South East.
“Women’s football, I don’t watch it,” he said The Athletics. ‘I’m not interested in television, because I watch enough men’s football and if I don’t watch that, I want to watch other sports.
“It’s a choice that I think should be a good one.”
Aarons and Lewis’ mothers argued with Webber, who was accused of ‘casual racism’
The Norwich women played their first match at Carrow Road in April, attracting 7,585 fans when they took on Ashford Town.
Webber added at the time: “That was the first women’s match I’ve been to because it doesn’t interest me. I don’t mind admitting that.’