Aston Villa "deeply disappointed" by the incident; Grealish to be disciplined and fined with proceeds donated to Birmingham hospital charity
Tuesday 31 March 2020 12:01, UK
Jack Grealish has apologised and been fined by Aston Villa after breaking government lockdown guidelines amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The 24-year-old revealed he left his house to meet with a friend over the weekend despite being instructed with staying at home to prevent the spread of the virus.
"Hi everybody, I just want to do a quick video message just to say how deeply embarrassed I am by about what has happened this weekend," Grealish said in a video posted on his social media feeds.
"I know it's a tough time for everyone at the moment, being locked indoors for so long, and I obviously just got a call off a friend asking me to go round to his and I stupidly agreed to do so.
"I don't want anyone to make the same mistake that I did,I obviously and genuinely I want to stay at home and follow the rules and guidelines of what we've been asked to do.
"I know for a fact that I'll be doing that in the near future now, and obviously as I said I urge everyone to do the same.
"I hope everyone can accept my apology and we can move on from this and hopefully in the near future we can all be out enjoying ourselves again, once this has all boiled over."
The Midlands club say they are "deeply disappointed" by the incident and confirmed the 24-year-old will be disciplined and fined for his behaviour, with all proceeds set to be donated to charity.
"Aston Villa is deeply disappointed that one of our players ignored the Government's guidance on staying at home during the Coronavirus crisis.
"Club captain Jack Grealish has accepted that his decision to leave his house was wrong and entirely unnecessary. It breached the government guidelines which are clear and should be adhered to by everybody.
"The player will be disciplined and fined with the proceeds donated to The University Hospitals Charity in Birmingham."
