Football: Marseille apologise on behalf of Barton after 'ladyboy' tweets

PARIS (REUTERS) - Olympique Marseille and Joey Barton have apologised to Thiago Silva and Paris St Germain after the English midfielder called the Brazilian an "overweight ladyboy".

"Olympique Marseille and Joey Barton wish to apologise to Thiago Silva and his club for the inappropriate comments the English player made on social media in the past 36 hours", Marseille said in a statement on their website.

"Olympique Marseille officials have asked Joey Barton to end the row between him and the Paris Brazilian defender. The OM midfielder has promised to end right now the publication of any invidious comment against Thiago Silva."

PSG threatened action against Barton on Wednesday after the Marseille midfielder likened Thiago Silva to a transsexual and called him an "overweight ladyboy" on his Twitter feed.

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