A WORCESTER rugby star waded in on the race row currently overshadowing English football by posting an insulting tweet aimed at Liverpool and England defender Glen Johnson.

Warriors wing Marcel Garvey posted a message describing Johnson as an ‘Uncle Tom’ during Liverpool’s televised encounter with Tottenham Hotspur last Monday night.

The inflammatory term is considered most derogatory when aimed by one black person at another.

Garvey, a former England age-group player and Sevens international, was complaining about Johnson’s support for his Liverpool team-mate Luis Suarez, who has recently returned from an eight-match ban for racially abusing Manchester United defender Patrice Evra.

Garvey, aged 28 and a Manchester United fan, tweeted: “Watching the football Glenn Johnson reminds me of something #uncletom.”

His tweet was accompanied by a picture of a Bounty bar wrapper.

Both the picture and message were deleted the same night, but the tweet is still visible on the website tweeting-athletes.com.

Johnson had previously reinforced his backing for Suarez by tweeting: “I will support who I want, when I want! There are a lot of reasons why I’m standing by Luis Suarez.”

A spokesman for Worcester Warriors said the club would be making no comment on the matter.

The incident came in the build-up to Saturday’s explosive Barclays Premier League showdown between Manchester United and Liverpool, which marked the first time Suarez had faced Evra since the charge.

Police and stewards had to deal with heated scenes on several occasions during the lunchtime kick-off, while Suarez and Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish have both apologised after the player refused to shake Evra’s hand before the match.

Marcel Garvey declined to comment on the matter.

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