Everton FC supporter denies hand in fan being banned from club

Wee touring the club during a recent visit

PETALING JAYA: Ardent Everton FC supporter Richard Wee has denied making a complaint regarding racist and homophobic comments against him on Twitter, which resulted in the poster's ban from attending the club’s matches at Goodison Park in Liverpool, Britain.

"People have been accusing me of reporting him to Everton, but I have no doing in this," said Wee in an exclusive interview with The Star Online.

Wee clarified that he did not receive the letter that was supposedly sent out to the banned fan.

"The letter wasn’t even addressed to me, and was marked 'private and confidential' according to a picture circulating on the Internet.

"I had no idea that a letter was sent to him until I saw it on Twitter," said Wee, a lawyer and also the Malaysia Bar's secretary.

"I feel saddened that some were blaming me for it," said the 41-year-old.

Wee said he first heard news of the ban on Twitter user @WhereAreYaEFC through social media on Saturday night.

"My Twitter went bonkers. I flew back to Malaysia from Singapore, switched on my phone and got over a hundred messages," he said.

According to Wee, he called up Everton on Sunday evening (Malaysian time) to clarify the situation.

He said the club informed him that they had contacted the person responsible for the tweets and banned him from all Everton matches at Goodison Park until further notice.

"I got a private message from Everton saying that the tweets were racist and homophobic, and that they have a zero-tolerance policy on racism and homophobia," said Wee.

Nasty messages and racist comments are not unusual for Wee, who hit headlines in February after his plans to see Everton live for the first time in 30 years were derailed when the Toffees’ match against Crystal Palace was postponed due to adverse weather.

He made a post on Twitter expressing his disappointment, which later went viral.

When the club got wind of the tweet, they personally invited Wee back to the club for a tour and to meet some of the club’s players and staff.

"I've been receiving vulgar messages since February, so I'm kind of used to it. I usually just ignore them," he said.

"The guy (Twitter user @WhereAreYaEFC) attacked me on Twitter out of the blue, and was really vulgar.

"I just ignored his tweets and blocked him from my Twitter account," said Wee.

The life-long Toffees fan said after the @WhereAreYaEFC account was deactivated, the user kept abusing him on Twitter and even tagged the club in more insulting tweets.

"He even tried following me using his other Twitter accounts," said Wee.

Wee said that he is glad Everton took a stand against racism and homophobia.

"I believe that Everton’s decision is good for the fight against racism and homophobia, and I too share their principles," said Wee.

"I applaud them for acting swiftly and for setting a good example to everyone else.

I believe that they are doing the right thing," he added.

Wee said that he was also grateful for the support he received over the past few days.

"I really appreciate the thousands of positive messages I received supporting Everton’s decision," said Wee.