Raheem Sterling among stars 'deeply offended' after ex-Prem chief's 'jail' comment

Chelsea star Raheem Sterling is among a group of five players who have been left unhappy by comments made by former Liverpool director Stuart Webber. The ex-Norwich chief claimed that the England international and four other black players would be in jail had it not been for football.

Webber is set to embark on a fund-raising challenge which will see him scale the highest mountain on earth, Mount Everest, and the fourth-highest peak, which are located in the Himalayas. The expedition is set to take four weeks, with money being raised for the Summit Foundation charity which he founded with his wife, Zoe Webber.

The foundation aims to provide a better life to those growing up in Norfolk, though Webber may have overstepped the mark when speaking about the goals of the charity in an interview with local newspaper Pink Un.

The former Huddersfield Town Director of Football claimed that Sterling, Max Aarons and three other players would have ended up in jail if it wasn’t for football. He explained: “We want to help the guys who really need it, not the ones who are maybe privileged. I saw that with our young footballers.

"Jonny Rowe wouldn’t mind me saying it but him, Abu Kamara, Max (Aarons), Jamal (Lewis), Raheem (Sterling) back in the day at Liverpool, where they come from it had to work out for them in football, because the alternative is potentially jail or something else.”

According to The Mirror, all five of the stars named have been left ‘deeply offended’ by the remarks, including Sterling. One of the players has also reached out to Webber to call for him to ‘explain himself’, prompting the 39-year-old to speak with some of the players and their families.