Football
Interim Manchester United manager in hot water after offensive tweet resurfaces
Joe Lyons is a sports writer with years of experience on reputable sports and gambling websites. Joe has also been published by Nottingham Forest, working with the academy and senior teams to produce content on matchdays. He formerly covered the Premier League and EFL as an on-site reporter during the 2020/21 season for Prost International. He is an expert in a range of sports including soccer, basketball, horse racing and American football. Joe specialises in long form content alongside news, tips and betting. Joe has a keen eye for the sports betting industry in the USA which covers the NBA and NFL, tracking and analysing the market as it changes throughout the season.
Get to know Joe Lyons betterPublished28 Oct 2024
New Manchester United manager Ruud van Nistelrooy is facing his first challenge in the hot seat after an offensive tweet from 2013 resurfaced.
On January 5th, 2013, Van Nistelrooy posted an image dressed up as Balthazar – one of Christianity’s Three Wise Men who visited Jesus Christ after his birth, bearing gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
The Dutchman painted his skin darker to resemble the King of Arabia, in a practice known as blackface – which dates back around 200 years and is seen as racist and highly offensive.
Blackface was a practice where black people were mocked for the entertainment of white people across the United States and Europe.
Ruud van Nistelrooy faces blackface scandal on first day as interim Manchester United manager
The tweet, shown above, has since been deleted from the social media platform X and with enough on his plate to deal with at the club as it is, a blackface scandal is the last thing Van Nistelrooy wanted to find himself in.
However, questions have to be asked and it will be interesting to see how and if the Dutchman responds to the post, which has garnered significant attention since he was appointed today.
Van Nistelrooy joined the Red Devils as assistant manager in July on a two-year contract and he will now succeed his former boss Erik ten Hag in the role as head coach.
The 48-year-old made his name in Manchester 20 years ago as a player, scoring 150 goals in 219 appearances for United and winning the Premier League, FA Cup and League Cup.
United’s first fixtures with Van Nistelrooy in charge begin with Leicester City in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday followed by Chelsea at home in the league this weekend.
In a very similar manner to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer taking over from Jose Mourinho in 2018, another legendary striker of the club has landed his dream role at Old Trafford.
According to the best football betting sites, Van Nistelrooy is a best-price 3/1 to land the job permanently.