Declan Rice responds after ‘corruption’ video goes viral

Footballers make statements via TikTok comments now

Declan Rice has responded after a video of him confronting the referee in the tunnel following West Ham's Europa League defeat to Eintracht Frankfurt went viral. In a clip posted by Fox Sports, the midfielder can be seen shouting: "ref, ref, it's so poor, all night it's so bad, how can you be that bad? Honestly, you've probably been f***ing paid. F***ing Corruption."

@foxsportsmx ?"¿CÓMO PUDISTE HACERLO TAN MAL? HONESTAMENTE, PUDIERON HABERTE PAGADO. ¡MALDITA CORRUPCIÓN!" Declan Rice cargó fuerte contra el arbitraje de Jesús Gil Manzano#EuropaLeaguexFOX #WestHam #futbol #tiktokdeportes #EuropaLeague ♬ sonido original - Fox Sports

Hammers left-back Aaron Cresswell was sent off early in the game, with Frankfurt capitalising on their man advantage just minutes later throughRafael Santos Borré Maury, making the score 3-1 to the German side on aggregate. West Ham put in a valiant effort after a nightmare start but never really threatened to win the tie, bringing their European adventure to an end at the penultimate hurdle. Rice's regrettable episode in the tunnel tarnished what was otherwise a great achievement for the London club, but he has since responded to the criticism and said he has apologised to the referee. In a comment on TikTok, Rice said: "Heat of the moment, football gets like this. I've apologised and moved on." Let's hope the referee has also moved on...

Related links

• Footage emerges of Declan Rice confronting referee in tunnel after Frankfurt defeat
• Declan Rice questions refereeing in West Ham defeat to Eintracht Frankfurt
• Jamie Carragher tells Man Utd targets Declan Rice and Jude Bellingham to 'run a mile'