Tottenham lodge official complaint with Premier League over broadcaster’s behaviour

Tottenham have made an official complaint to the Premier League over a video showing a broadcaster joining in chants criticising the club. The Premier League club have reportedly taken issue with ESPN Brazil journalist Joao Castelo-Branco, after he was spotted leading anti-Spurs chants alongside Arsenal fans on social media. According to the Times , Spurs no longer want the reporter covering their games at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. This includes interviewing head coach Roberto De Zerbi and their players, with a recent video angering the club. Castelo-Branco was seen joining in chants with Arsenal fans that labelled their north London rivals ‘s***’. The video also featured a chant in which the journalist and Gunners supporters sung about how much they “hate” Tottenham . Footage has since been taken down, with Castelo-Branco issuing an apology to the club and admitting he crossed a line. Despite this, the Times report states that Spurs have told the Premier League they no longer feel it is appropriate for the journalist to cover their games for ESPN Brazil, although they have no objection to the broadcaster itself opposing ESPN journalist issues apology In his apology, Castelo-Branco told The Times: “I wanted to apologise to the club for the video I recorded with Arsenal fans in Brazil singing a derogatory chant about Tottenham Hotspur Football Club. “Given my role as a correspondent in the UK I feel I made a mistake,” he added. “The video was posted on the podcast Instagram page and reproduced on my personal page.” The ESPN Brazil reporter continued: “I understand it can be offensive to Spurs and Spurs fans and I should have thought more about singing that and the reach it could have. “ESPN was notified by the Premier League about Tottenham seeing and disliking the post and we agreed to delete it. “Hopefully we can move on and I will rethink and be more careful with the boundaries of having that persona on the podcast.” Castelo-Branco is reported to have sent an email to Tottenham offering an apology, and also attended an online meeting alongside ESPN and the Premier League. The Premier League are reported to be holding talks with the club and ESPN Brazil to resolve the dispute. Spurs will now decide whether to allow the journalist back into their stadium for their next home game – against Ipswich on November 21. This leaves them several weeks to make a judgement call, with De Zerbi’s side beaten at Elland Road in a 1-0 defeat to Leeds on Saturday .