Controversial Football Players on Social Media

Social media has provided us with a lot of entertaining moments, with brands, movie stars, sports celebrities, and Internet sensations joining the fray. There are some (many?) instances, however, when social media amplifies the naughty side of people – celebrity or not.

The world of sports has had its fair share of social media mishaps, and football (the kind where the feet are actually used to kick the ball) players have stirred the hornet’s nest quite a bit. Maybe some of them have had one blow to the head too many, causing neurons misfiring on a normal day – or something along those lines.

In any case, while these football players may have crossed the line, one can argue that some of them have funny moments on social media. Whatever your position may be, here are some of the most controversial football players on social media.

Marcos Rojo

The latest of controversial football players on social media, Marcos Rojo ruffled a lot of feathers thanks to an Instagram post.

As can be expected, this Instagram post can’t be found now, but of course, it’s been screencapped by countless people, including The Guardian, where this image is from.

What’s the deal about this post? The image is of Colombian drug baron Pablo Escobar (deceased). The quote says:

Only those who went hungry with me and stood by me when I went through a bad time at some point in life will eat at my table.

With Escobar being responsible for thousands of deaths in his country while serving as the head of the Medellin cartel, this post naturally irked a lot of people.

The quote seems all right to me, but given the context, Rojo should have thought twice about his post, shouldn’t he?

Follow Marcos Rojo on:
Twitter
Instagram

Adrian Mutu

Romanian football player Adrian Mutu became controversial because of a Photoshopped image that was probably born out of frustration and done partly in jest. Excluded from playing for the national team for a World Cup play-off match against Greece, Mutu blamed the coach, Victor Piţurcă. He took to Facebook and displayed a bit of Photoshop knowledge, comparing Victor Piţurcă to Mister Bean.

Follow Adrian Mutu on:
Twitter
Instagram

Joey Barton

Queens Park Rangers midfielder Joey Barton is quite active on Twitter, where he has had his fair share – maybe more – of spats with his peers.

One of his more controversial tweets was against then Manchester City’s Carlos Tevez, whom he accused of purposefully conspiring to get him ejected from the final game of the 2011-2012 season.

He is also well known for starting a word war with Thiago Silva, Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain defender. According to him, it was all banter, but both players got suspensions for their social media mischief.

Follow Joey Barton on Twitter.

Rio Ferdinand

Source

One of the most popular footballers of his generation, Rio Ferdinand is considered by many to be a role model. However, his behavior on Twitter is not quite fitting of a role model.

He has been sanctioned a couple of times for his tweets, with fines as high as GBP45,000, not to mention suspensions. Naturally, the guy didn’t like it one bit.

Follow Rio Ferdinand on Twitter.

Mario Balotelli

Saving the best for last, we have Mario Balotelli. Even without social media, the Italian is quite a character. The moment he discovered social media…well, the rest is history.

Let his posts speak for themselves.