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Welsh soccer player under investigation for homophobic tweets about Tom Daley

Just a day after a Twitter troll was arrested for threatening Olympian Tom Daley, a Welsh athlete is accused of tweeting homophobic remarks about the diver.

 

Jordan Valinsky

IRL

Posted on Aug 1, 2012   Updated on Jun 2, 2021, 1:33 pm CDT

Another day, another Twitter-based attack against Olympic diver Tom Daley.

Welsh football player Daniel Thomas allegedly tweeted a homophobic message Tuesday to Daley following his disappointing fourth-place result at the synchronized diving competition.

“If there is any consolation for finishing fourth at least Daley and Waterfield can go and bum each other #teamHIV,” the tweet from Thomas’ now-shuttered account said.

However, team officials said Thomas was a victim of a “misguided prank” and said that his phone was left unattended. Thomas, 28, has been suspended his team, Port Talbot Town FC, and team officials are conducting an internal investigation.

“Upon being informed of the matter, we immediately distanced ourselves from any offensive messages whilst investigating the matter further,” a team spokesman told BBC News.

The spokesman also said Thomas apologized “unreservedly” and does not harbor any homophobic feelings toward Daley and his diving partner, Pete Waterfield.

On Monday, Daley was also victim of another verbal assault on Twitter when a user told Daley to “fuck off” and allegedly threatened to drown him in a swimming pool. Fans rallied behind the diver, and the troll was later arrested.

Photo via Hashgram

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*First Published: Aug 1, 2012, 11:43 am CDT