A man who sent Marcus Rashford racist abuse in the aftermath of England’s defeat to Italy at the Euros has admitted that his family benefited from star’s free school meals campaign.
Nick Scott, 50, originally denied sending the vile message after the England striker missed a penalty in Sunday’s heartbreaking final at Wembley, claiming that his Twitter account had been hacked.
But he has now admitted he may have ‘unknowingly’ sent the offensive remarks while drunk.
Speaking to The Sun, he has now begged for Rashford’s forgiveness, saying he can’t be racist because he’s a “quarter black South African” and had married a German.
He said: “I was hammered at the time and don’t remember doing it. But if I did I want Marcus to know that I’m truly sorry and I apologise sincerely. After everything he’s done for my kids and all the other kids in the country with the free school meals.
“He’s absolutely brilliant. He’s helped my family and I can’t thank him enough.”
Child food poverty
In May Rashford become the youngest person to top the Sunday Times Giving List in a record-breaking year for donations.
The Manchester United striker raised £20 million in donations from supermarkets for groups tackling child food poverty in the UK.
For the first time, total donations on the list exceeded £4 billion, with a 36 per cent rise on the previous year’s £3.2 billion taking the 2020 total to more than £4.3 billion.
Along with helping charity FareShare distribute four million meals to vulnerable children during the pandemic, Rashford, 23, also forced a series of Government U-turns over free school meals.
The Prime Minister retracted his vow not to extend the voucher system into the summer holidays on June 16, two days after Rashford called on his Cabinet to reconsider the decision in an open letter.
In October, he launched a petition urging the Government to again extend free school meals through the half-term and Christmas holidays, eventually pressuring ministers into providing £170 million of extra funding.
Free school meals
Rashford, who received free school meals himself, was made an MBE in the delayed 2020 Queen’s Birthday Honours List.
He has since called for an urgent review of the free school meals system.
Lindsay Boswell, FareShare chief executive, said: “We are delighted he’s been honoured in this way. Marcus’s support for FareShare over the last year – and his commitment to tackling child hunger – has simply been incredible.
“His own experience of relying on free school meals to eat brings authenticity and compassion to his campaigning, and his status as a Premier League footballer means people and politicians sit up and take notice.”
Rashford features on the list alongside fellow footballer, Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson, who ranked sixth after raising £4 million for the NHS from fellow Premier League footballers through the #PlayersTogether appeal.
Related: A message for Marcus: Heartwarming video showing fan support goes viral