Aston Villa have abandoned their plans to take legal action against Jamie Carragher after the pundit apologised for comments he made about the club. The decision follows chairman Nassef Sawiris' claim that Carragher had disrespected the club and its supporters.
Late on Friday night, Villa announced on social media that they were initiating legal action against Carragher. However, the club has since reversed that stance.
Comments that sparked the dispute
The controversy arose from remarks Carragher made on an episode of the Stick to Football podcast last week. He stated that Manchester United ranked above Villa in football's hierarchy and suggested that Villa's Spanish coach would consider a move to Old Trafford.
"Surely he (Emery) would want that opportunity to manage a giant again," Carragher said. "There is a chain in football, whether you like it or not. So Real Madrid will take Manchester United's best player, they'll take (Cristiano) Ronaldo. There's very few above United, same with Liverpool."
"But there will be teams below Aston Villa, and they'll take their manager, or they'll take their players, so shut the **** up Villa fans. Aston Villa will never be Man United."
Apology and retraction
Carragher later acknowledged his words and apologised at the weekend. "I'd like to apologise to Aston Villa, the owners & their fans. My language this week was clumsy and wrong. I can assure Villa fans it was tongue in cheek but I can understand it's not come across that way, so apologies," he said.
Following the apology, Villa dropped their threat of legal action against Carragher, according to BirminghamLive.
