A man has been fired from his job in northwest England after sending a racially abusive Twitter message to English Premier League star Louis Saha, The Liverpool Echo reported Tuesday.
The owner of the cell phone which sent the crude message was tracked down by Everton FC after striker Saha complained about the tweet.
The EPL club found Callum Gardner on their season ticket holder database and contacted his workplace.
Gardner later apologized for the message, which was sent after the club's defeat to Bolton Wanderers last Wednesday, but said it had been sent without his knowledge.
A subsequent investigation discovered that an unnamed colleague was indeed behind the tweet. That employee was initially suspended then fired, the Echo said.
Saha, a 33-year-old French international who has also played for Manchester United and Fulham, posted a Twitter message Monday acknowledging that Gardner was not responsible for the racist tweet.
"A investigation has been done.We can clear @gardner_efc for a racist tweet who has been send from his account but without his authorisation," he tweeted.
Later he added, "Thx 4 all support messages.I'm glad 2 see majority of men & women are good people & understand what is acceptable & what is not. Love u."
