Matt Le Tissier is right to apologise for comparing rules on mask-wearing during COVID-19 pandemic to the Holocaust

Matt Le Tissier has apologised for comparing rules on mask-wearing during the COVID-19 pandemic to the Holocaust in a highly controversial and ill-considered social media post.

The football pundit, who was until recently a fixture on Sky Sports and continues to serve as an ambassador for Southampton Football Club, shared an image on Twitter that had been posted by another user in response to a police officer challenging a train passenger for not wearing a protective face mask.

The image showed the famous child victim of the Holocaust, Anna Frank, with the caption: “The people who hid Anne Frank were breaking the law. The people who killed her were following it.”

After a social media backlash, Mr Le Tissier apologised, saying: “Apologies for the recent tweet. Obviously taken out of context so I’ve deleted it so there’s no confusion.” It is not, however, clear what the “context” was other than a comparison between a law requiring people to wear masks to reduce the spread of a pandemic and the systematic genocide of the Jewish people.

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “Matt Le Tissier is right to apologise for a grossly ill-considered tweet. Everyone is free to express an opinion on the pandemic and lockdown within the bounds of the law, but their opinions should also be expressed within the bounds of taste. Comparing the need to wear a protective mask to protect oneself and others during a worldwide pandemic is in no sense comparable to the systematic murder of over six million Jews because of who they were. Hopefully Mr Le Tissier has now grasped that elementary distinction.”