Matt Le Tissier: Former Southampton player admits Ukraine tweet was 'wrong'

The controversial tweet led to widespread condemnation before Le Tissier “stepped aside” from his role as Saints ambassador - a position he has held at Southampton since 2019.

Speaking exclusively to Saintsplus, Le Tissier said his tweet was "the wrong thing" to have done.

His full interview - including how he could ditch Twitter for an alternative 'free-speech' app - is available on Saintsplus.

Le Tissier also opens up about the real him beyond his social media presence - and how he views others' opinions about him as 'irrelevant'.

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SAINTSPLUS: Matt Le Tissier says his Twitter usage will 'fizzle out' as he moves to alternative app

Le Tissier said: "The point that I was making (was) I could have chosen a better example.

"That’s why I deleted the tweet.  

“The point I was trying to get across, I didn’t use the right example to get that across and it came across the wrong way which is my mistake. I should have thought that through better.  

“That’s why I chose to delete the tweet and apologise for it. 

“It’s very emotive and it was the wrong thing for me to do. I see that now but it doesn’t change the point I was trying to make, I just used the wrong example."

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Le Tissier said he was acting in Southampton FC's best interests in stepping down.

"I’ve always wanted what’s best for Southampton Football Club," he said. "Since the age of 16 that’s all I’ve wanted and looking at it rationally it was the best thing for me to do to take the hassle off of Southampton Football Club.”

Le Tissier also insisted he is not “the person social media paints him to be”.

The now-deleted tweet

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