Steven Taylor Forced into Swift Apology After Potentially Racist Tweet

Newcastle United defender Steven Taylor issued an apology after a Twitter exchange with teammate Massadio Haidara which could have been interpreted as racism.

The English defender was being mocked by one of the members of Newcastle's growing French-speaking contingent when he made the inappropriate joke.

"

My friend @27StevenTaylor learning french ha ha good luck tayls pic.twitter.com/fuAGDLj85q

— Massadio Haidara (@MassadioHaidara) November 15, 2013"

Taylor replied to Haidara—as well as teammates Vurnon Anita and Papiss Cisse—in a tweet that has subsequently been deleted:

The tweet was quickly spread around the social network, and soon Taylor ended up apologising.

"

Apologies if my tweet offended anybody.

— Steven Taylor (@27StevenTaylor) November 15, 2013"

Haidara also moved to deny there was any malice in Taylor's words:

"

@27StevenTaylor Is Just Bander with Papiss , Moussa , Vurn' and Me . He joke with me 2 min before .

— Massadio Haidara (@MassadioHaidara) November 15, 2013"

It remains to be seen whether the FA will intervene in the issue. Although the incident has been swiftly played down by all sides, the FA does have precedent for acting on racist comments on social media.

In 2012 Rio Ferdinand was fined £45,000 for his use of the term "choc ice" on Twitter.