ITV football presenter Adrian Chiles issues apology after Polish builders remarks

 
Adrian Chiles
ITV
Standard Sport12 October 2013

ITV football presenter Adrian Chiles has apologised for comments he made regarding England's next opponents Poland.

Chiles was discussing Poland with pundit Lee Dixon following England's 4-1 win over Montenegro last night when he stereotyped Polish fans as 'builders'.

"It's practically a home game for Poland - 15,000 Poles will be here, I'm sure," the presenter said.

Dixon replied: "Hopefully they're all crying at the end." This led Chiles to respond: "I'm trying to get some building work done at the moment, quite seriously. Be careful."

The comments, which are not the first to land Chiles in hot water, quickly drew criticism from social media, with accusations that his remarks were 'racist'.

Chiles, whose mother is Croatian, said sorry for his comments today.

"I made the remark in relation to the nice Polish builders currently working at my place, who I knew would already be fed up having watched their team lose to Ukraine," Chiles said.

"No offence was intended - apart from anything else I could hardly be prouder of my own East European background.

"But to anyone who thought what I said constituted some kind of lazy stereotyping, and was offended by it, I certainly apologise."

Earlier this year, West Brom manager Steve Clarke branded the ITV host "out of order" after he made a jibe at the expense of Peter Odemwingie at the club's annual awards evening.

Chiles, a fervent Baggies fan, was hosting the event when he made a foul-mouthed aside about the forward.

The presenter said: "Our fourth award of the evening is for 'tweet of the year'", before adding: "Oh no sorry, it's 't*** of the year' and the winner is Peter Odemwingie.

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