Former referee Bobby Madley regrets joke about disabled person

Former Premier League referee Bobby Madley admits he was sacked for joking about disabled person struggling in a race on Snapchat – and reveals he was ‘threatened’ by a friend with the video

  • Former Premier League referee Bobby Madley was sacked by PGMOL last year
  • He reveals the regret over a joke about a disabled person he sent a friend
  • The joke got him fired, and he has revealed the ‘mental torture’ of the past year 

Former Premier League referee Bobby Madley has admitted he was forced to quit after a private message he sent mocking a disabled person was leaked to his employers.

Madley retired suddenly in August 2018 aged just 32, with the PGMOL statement confirming he ‘decided to relocate due to a change in his personal circumstances’.

The official’s shock exit sparked widespread rumours about his decision. Now, addressing the situation publicly for the first time, Madley hit out at ‘ultimately ridiculous’ suggestions he stepped down because he was filmed performed a lewd act with a dog and also dismissed claims about his new Norwegian partner. 

 Bobby Madley has revealed the regret over a joke that cost him his job in the Premier League

Madley moved to officiate in Norway after the incident, where he lives with his girlfriend

Madley moved to officiate in Norway after the incident, where he lives with his girlfriend 

He admits to making the joke that made fun of a disabled person, which he sent to a friend on Snapchat

 He admits to making the joke that made fun of a disabled person, which he sent to a friend on Snapchat

He did, though, confirm that after being taunted about his weight and not taking part in the parents’ race at his daughter’s sports day, he recorded a six- second Snapchat clip of someone with a walking impairment passing his car.

He captioned the clip ‘f**k me I have a chance of winning the parents race this year,’ sent it as a private message to an unnamed person who then passed it on, following an argument over a family matter with Madley. This led to his dismissal ‘with immediate effect for gross misconduct on grounds of discrimination.’

He said: ‘At that point my world fell apart. I regret taking the video, I regret sending that video and whilst it was a dark humoured joke it was just that. A joke. It was not intended to shame anyone, it was not intended to be seen by anyone other than the person I sent it privately to in a text message on my own personal phone (not a work phone). 

‘Whilst I absolutely understand the importance of an employer taking discrimination seriously, as they did, the decision to this day still stuns me.

‘Whilst my actions were badly misjudged, it was a joke. A private joke. Something that I am certain pretty much everyone reading this has done with friends/partners in the privacy of their relationships and with no expectation that that person would ever allow that to be used to end their professional career.’ 

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk