FORMER Premier League referee Bobby Madley opened up on the dark private joke that cost him his career in the top flight.
Madley was dismissed as a Prem official in August 2018 due to a “change in personal circumstances”.
But he was fired for discrimination against the disabled after he sent an offensive and inappropriate message on his Snapchat account.
He now works in Norway, living with his partner, but the move came after he was sacked for gross misconduct for a video he took of a person with a disability.
For the first time Madley has addressed the situation as he opened up in a column for The Referee’s Word, as he looks to move on from the “mental torture” he has gone through.
The 34-year-old began by explaining how it started with a light-hearted joke about him being ‘scared of losing’ in the parents’ race at his daughter’s school sports day.
Madley revealed: “As I sat in my car with my phone in hand a person walked past my car in front of me who had a walking impairment. The next part I am ashamed of.
“I took a six second film, I said nothing. I did this in Snapchat which is where I take all of my films that I intend to save to my phone.
“On the video I wrote, ‘F*** me I have a chance of winning the parents race this year.’
“Out of context I accept this reads shamefully. I accept that. However my intention was that the joke was aimed at myself.
“Had I have sent this to anyone on Snapchat then I would accept the decision that later came as a result. I didnt do that though. I saved it to my phone.
“I sent it as a private text to somebody who I trusted, somebody who had been a huge part of my life for the previous 10 years and who I was on reasonable terms with.
“Somebody who understood the context of previous sports day comments and was aware of the fat shaming I had received.
“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).”
Madley later had a disagreement with the person he sent the video to in the following weeks.
The clip ended up on the desk of the Professional Game Match Officials and action was subsequently taken against him.
Madley said: “I am not proud of that video and as I said I have to live with that for the rest of my life.
“In context, it was a 6 second video, a dark private joke that cost me my career.
“Please dont think bad of me. Im a human being who made one mistake, one that many many people have done themselves and not lost everything for. Again, I have to pick those pieces up.”
