Joey Barton reined in after calling Thiago Silva a 'ladyboy'

PSG threatens legal action after British midfielder takes to Twitter to question Brazilian's 'gender'

PARIS, FRANCE - FEBRUARY 24:Joey Barton of Marseille reacts during the Ligue 1 match between Paris Saint-Germain FC and Olympique de Marseille at Parc des Princes on February 24, 2013 in Pari
(Image credit: 2013 Getty Images)

JOEY BARTON has apologised for describing Thiago Silva as "a ladyboy" on Twitter after Paris Saint-Germain threatened legal action against the Marseille midfielder.

The unseemly spat began earlier in the week when Silva, to use the street vernacular, 'dissed' Barton in an interview with L'Equipe. "There is a Marseille player, I cannot remember his name, an Englishman, who has said bad things about Neymar and Brazilian football, and also about [David] Beckham and [Zlatan] Ibrahimovic," said Silva, himself a Brazilian. "Because no one is talking about him, it seems it is fun for him to criticise great players for people to know he exists."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up