Chapecoense: Former football club chief says sorry over quip
Ex-L'Hospitalet president Miguel García staged a hasty climb-down after inadvertently taunting the Brazilians during the Trofeo Joan Gamper.Chelsea - Barcelona U - 19 live: UEFA Youth League final
The ex-president of Spanish third-tier club CE L'Hospitalet has apologised after mocking Chapecoense, Barcelona's Trofeo Joan Gamper opponents, on Twitter.
2017 Joan Gamper organised as tribute to Chapecoense
Los Azulgranas hosted Chapecoense in their annual pre-season invitational fixture on Monday evening, in a match that served as a tribute to the Brazilians, whose squad was decimated by a plane crash last November.
Goals by Gerard Deulofeu, Sergio Busquets, Lionel Messi, Luis Suárez and Denis Suárez saw the LaLiga giants win 5-0 on an emotional night for the visitors.
García taunts Barcelona opponents, then stages climb-down
But as he watched the game, Miguel García - now a town councillor in L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, located just outside the Catalan capital - took to social media with a post not entirely in line with the spirit of the occasion.
"Madre mía," García tweeted. "The opponents Barça have brought over couldn't play in Spain even in a married-versus-singles league."
Having attracted widespread criticism for his remark, García then published two further tweets in which he said he had been unaware of the away team's identity when he posted the original message.
García: "I hadn't realised it was Chapecoense"
"I unreservedly apologise for the mistake I made when writing the tweet that talked about Barça's opponents in the Gamper today.
"When I wrote the tweet, I hadn't realised it was Chapecoense. I'm hugely sorry for my mistake."
