Two Tottenham players apologize after screwing up social distancing... again

Hey guess what, everyone? Some Tottenham Hotspur players did something stupid during a pandemic again! Hours after Serge Aurier posted an Instagram story that showed him working out with teammate Moussa Sissoko outside and disregarding UK mandated social distancing guidelines, the two players issued a joint apology.

“We recognise that as professional footballers we have a responsibility to be role models, particularly during this uncertain period that everyone around the world is facing. We wish to apologise for not setting the right example here.

“We must all respect the government advice to minimise the number of lives lost during this pandemic.

“We cannot thank NHS staff enough for their tireless work at this time and we shall both be making a financial donation to show our support for their efforts.”

The video, which you can still watch on Football.London, shows Aurier wearing a mask but doing sprints beside Sissoko and later sitting on a bench together, clearly within the six feet of social distancing space mandated by the government to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

It’s the second time Tottenham has gotten busted for exercising outside in breach of social distancing guidelines. Last week (was it only last week? Time is a flat circle during a pandemic) Davinson Sanchez, Tanguy Ndombele, Ryan Sessegnon, and manager Jose Mourinho all got busted for something similar — the club spoke to all of them about their responsibilities during a time of crisis and Mourinho issued an apology.

So I’ll say it again that going out for a run with a teammate and staying two feet apart from each other instead of six isn’t a catastrophic error in judgement and there’s probably not a reason to get super upset over it. It’s not quite to the level of, say, getting busted for drunk driving, and it’s nice that both Aurier and Sissoko are going to make a financial donation to the NHS.

But it’s definitely something that you can point and shake your head at and think “you absolute dumb-asses,” especially after three of their teammates have already gotten in trouble for doing something very similar. It’s another spectacular own goal, it’s ridiculous, and there’s simply no reason to do it at all.

If you head to Serge’s Instagram, his workout story is now gone and has been replaced with one of him singing to music and cooking what looks like a West African chicken stew with rice, while wearing this year’s cyan blue third jersey, with the logo “#StayHomeAndCook.” That, if you ask me, is a much, MUCH better message to send to Spurs fans. Also, I want that recipe.