Father Of Bullied Rugby Player Alfie Pugsley Allegedly Sent Racist And Homophobic Tweets Frequently

• It appears that bullied young rugby player Alfie Pugsley's father Mark is the same as the troll who allegedly mocked his son
• Pugsley allegedly sent tweets with racist and homophobic content, which he has since deleted together with his Twitter account
• He brought worldwide attention on himself and Alfie after sharing that the 12-year-old had been fat-shamed on Facebook

In an unfortunate turn of events, Alfie Pugsley's father has been linked to racist and homophobic behaviour on Twitter.

Welshman Mark Pugsley had earlier in the week shared a tweet in which he alleged that his 12-year-old son had been the subject of online bullying. He said that the troll had mocked Alfie's weight, questioning his ability to play the game.

The tweet read:

"Had to remove a post from Facebook as an idiot commented saying my boy is too "big" to play under 12s and isn't healthy. If only people knew how hard he works to get fitter and how low his confidence has been. Don't worry, Alfie. I'll always be your biggest fan."

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Rugby

However, it has emerged that Mark had tweeted vile racist and homophobic content on his account before, with screenshots of these tweets doing the rounds on social media. He has since deleted his account.

Media personality Xola Ntshinga, known to South Africans for his rugby anchor role on SuperSport, shared his disappointment on Twitter, saying:

The Alfie Pugsley story has turned sour after old tweets, posted by his father, Mark, surfaced. They're pretty horrific. Mark has since deleted his twitter account. Seems his old man was doing to others, what others were doing to his son - dehumanizsng them. Sad"

ITV Wales presenter Beth Fisher tweeted:

"What an absolutely terrible ending to the story about Alfie the rugby player who encountered online bullying. Someone has uncovered tweets that his Dad, Mark Pugsley, who had called out the bullying btw, posted which contained horrific racist language amongst other things."

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Springbok captain and Sharks flanker Siya Kolisi sends message to bullied boy Alfie Pugsley in heartfelt video

Iconic Springbok captain Siya Kolisi was one of many rugby figures who sent messages of support to Alfie Pugsley before ugly tweets by his father emerged.

As reported on Sports Brief, the bruising Sharks flanker shared a motivational video with the 12-year-old Welsh prop, encouraging him to not give doubters the time of day and focus on improving as a player and enjoying himself.

As reported on News24, Alfie's father Mark shared in a tweet that a troll on Facebook had commented on the youngster's appearance, saying that he was "too big" to be playing the sport.