Chelsea defender David Luiz has said negative comments about Ligue 1 attributed to him on social media are “untrue,” “malicious” and “disrespectful” and insisted he has “tremendous respect” for French football.
Luiz, 29, returned to Stamford Bridge on transfer deadline day for a reported £35 million fee after a two-year spell with French champions Paris Saint-Germain.
Upon his return to the Premier League, social media account Sun Gossip — not affiliated with The Sun newspaper — quoted the Brazil international as saying he “wasted two years” in Ligue 1 and that “it is like playing FIFA [the football video game] on beginner level.”
Two other accounts, Odds Bible Tips and Visubal, later used the quotes and Luiz mentioned all three by name in a statement on his official Facebook page.
Luiz denied conducting any interviews, before stating his “tremendous respect” towards French football and his belief in “freedom of speech” and “the value of fair publication.”
“Dear Fans! A clarification! Be aware!” Luiz said. “The post made on 08.30.2016 hosted by the Twitter account “@SunGossip” and facebook page account “@oddsbibletips” and the post made on 09.01.2016 hosted by the Instagram account “@visubal” contain untrue statements!
“Some of which contain malicious falsehood and disrespectful words towards the French League. I never spoke with these accounts and I never gave an interview where I could said this.
“I have a tremendous respect to all French Federation of Football, Football teams, players and supporters.
“I am not against freedom of speech and I recognise the value of fair publication. But be aware about the posts these social medias accounts been doing!
“If you’re happy, you’re a Geezer!
“Thank you all!”
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