Leicester City striker Jamie Vardy has admitted that he regrets an incident in a casino last year that led to claims that he is a racist.
The 29-year-old repeatedly branded a fellow casino-goer a "Jap" as he accused him of looking at his cards during a night out at a Leicester casino in July 2015.
"Most convictions get wiped after a period of time. But there's no way of erasing what happened in July 2015," Vardy wrote in his new autobiography, which is being serialised in The Sun this week. "The word 'racist' is a permanent stain against my name. It's worse than a criminal record.
"Some people will never forgive me. Others will accept I made a terrible mistake and recognise I have learnt from it. It's on YouTube when my kids type in their dad's name and it comes up 'Jamie Vardy racist'. On Google, too. It's horrible.
"I like a drink and enjoy being Jack the Lad. I've had a few scraps and spent a night in a cell. I can be a pain in the arse. But one thing I'm not, and never will be, is a racist. I looked in the eyes of the student I verbally abused and told him that. I needed him to see how sorry I was. I wanted him to know there was ignorance, not malice or prejudice, behind the word I used. I was angry at the time and I'd had too much to drink but I'd never have used the word 'Jap' if I'd known it was racist."
Following the incident, Vardy went on to have his most prolific season in a Leicester shirt, scoring 24 times to help the Foxes to a historic Premier League title.
Neil Wilkes
