Footballer apologises for painting himself black for Christmas party

Tranmere Rovers' James Norwood has apologised for painting himself black for a club fancy dress-themed Christmas party.

The decision had been criticised by anti-discrimination charity Kick It Out, who described it as 'ill-thought-out'. After posting images to his Instagram and Twitter account, Norwood had initially appeared to defend his choice of outfit. But having removed the images and set his accounts to private, the 26-year-old has now released a statement in which he apologises for unintentionally causing offence. https://twitter.com/sports_eeuu/status/811603697029419008?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw "I would like to apologise for any offence I have caused, it was certainly not intentional," it reads. A spokesperson for Tranmere added: "The response to James’ photo from a Kick It Out spokesman was balanced and fair. It was an error of judgement rather than an intention to be racist or cause offence and James has apologised for his actions. https://twitter.com/tranmererovers/status/811897237546659841?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw