Fantasy Premier League winner disqualified over racist comments

A Fantasy Premier League winner has been disqualified for calling Manchester City striker Raheem Sterling the N-word in a private Facebook chat with friends.

Aleksandar Antonov opened up about being stripped of the coveted soccer title on his YouTube channel Tuesday, according to the BBC.

“The reason for my disqualification is a moment of frustration with a player, put into words, written between friends,” said Antonov, who is from Bulgaria.

“It was never meant to offend any footballer. It is not something I posted or said directly towards a footballer.”

In subsequent Twitter posts, Antonov divulged that he dropped the N-word, saying the slur in Bulgarian “does not have nearly the same connotation as the n-word in English.”

“It is hard to explain to English speaking people why I never meant it to be a racist comment,” he said.

“I have never used the n-word to anyone English-speaking or of black color in Bulgaria.”

Antonov apologized and said his “punishment” was well deserved.

The Premier League didn’t comment on his explanation, only saying, “The team formerly occupying the No 1 position has been removed from FPL due to a breach of our terms.”

Sterling has faced racial discrimination before and has spoken out about it in the past.