Phil Neville deletes bizarre tweet that shocked football which linked Pierluigi Collina with a ‘bung’
Ex-Manchester United star posts random message about former top referee before withdrawing statement from online
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FORMER Manchester United star Phil Neville was forced into an embarrassing climb-down after appearing to link former top referee Pierluigi Collina with taking a bung.
Neville left his 1.45million Twitter followers stumped when he posted a bizarre message online about Italian Collina - who was voted FIFA referee of the year six times.
The ex-England star appeared to claim the official was paid to fix a game he was involved in while he was playing for Everton in 2005.
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Collina was in charge of Everton's Champions League play-off with Villareal, and disallowed a late Duncan Ferguson equaliser which would have taken the tie to extra-time.
Though the decision has always been controversial among Toffees fans there is no evidence to suggest the official had acted dishonestly.
But Neville appeared to ignite the flames of conspiracy theorists today when he responded to a tweet from Sky Sports reporter Bryan Swanson who had interviewed Collina.
Neville wrote: "Ask him about the goal he disallowed for Everton vs Villarreal #bung".
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The television pundit soon realised he was treading dodgy legal ground and quickly deleted his gaffe - but too late to stop it being screen-grabbed and shared online.
It is not the first time a high-profile celebrity has been caught up in a legal storm after something they tweeted.
Earlier this month outspoken columnist Katie Hopkins was successfully sued for libel for comments she had made on the social media platform.