Hazard offers apology after kicking Swansea ball-boy

Thursday, January 24, 2013
7:47 AM

Chelsea’s Eden Hazard apologised to the Swansea ball-boy he was sent off for kicking in last night’s 0-0 Capital One Cup second leg draw at the Liberty Stadium

The incident happened 10 minutes time and overshadowed the result, which saw Chelsea crash out of the cup 2-0 on aggregate at the Swans expense.

The Belgium international issued an apology through Chelsea TV after the match, claiming he felt he had kicked the ball rather than the ball boy.

He said: “The boy put his whole body onto the ball and I was just trying to kick the ball and I think I kicked the ball and not the boy. I apologise.

“The ball boy came in the changing room and we had a quick chat and I apologised and the boy apologised as well, and it is over. Sorry.”

The 21-year-old could yet face a lengthy ban, though it is unlikely to be comparable to the nine months Manchester United’s Eric Cantona missed after the most high-profile incident of a similar vein in recent years, his infamous kung-fu kick at a Crystal Palace fan in 1995.

In a further twist to the controversy Charlie Morgan, the ball boy in question, had posted on his Twitter account just hours before the game: “The king of all ball boys is back making his final appearance #needed #for #timewasting”.

And he appeared to suggest he had only been asked to work at the game due to the heavy snow in south Wales preventing someone else getting there.

“Haven’t been doing it this season been ask to come back to run them because the person can’t come in cos of the snow #manager”, his tweet read.

His Twitter account had swelled to almost 50,000 followers after the game.