Marcus Rashford and Jesse Lingard condemn antisemitism after photo with Wiley

The England footballers Marcus Rashford and Jesse Lingard have said they do not condone any form of discrimination, after a photograph emerged of them posing in Dubai with the grime MC Wiley.

Wiley is a hugely controversial figure. In 2020 he was banned from Twitter and Facebook for a series of antisemitic posts, including one rant in which he compared Jews with the Ku Klux Klan and described them as snakes.

On Tuesday the Jewish Chronicle published a photograph of Rashford and Lingard, both Manchester United players, posing with Wiley after a performance at a nightclub in Dubai on Sunday. It had been posted on Wiley’s Instagram page and was later deleted.

A backlash prompted both players to make statements on antisemitism.

Rashford said: “This picture has been brought to my attention which I understand now, given context, could easily be misconstrued. I would like to reinforce that I do not and will not condone discriminative language or behaviour of any kind aimed at the Jewish community or any other community.”

A Manchester United-supporting reporter, Ben Bloch, asked what the context was, adding: “All I’m seeing right now is you posing next to a man who hates me and other Jewish people to his core. Please help me understand.”

Rashford replied: “Hey Ben, I wasn’t aware of comments that had been made when I got pulled into a photo opportunity. Comments that I absolutely condemn. I apologise for any upset caused. We just all happened to be in the same place at the same time.”

The footballer also said: “I truly believe that tackling antisemitism in and outside of the game requires a greater level of attention and should very much form part of the game’s anti-racism stance.”

Lingard posted on Twitter: “I’ve been made