Jordon Ibe is facing disciplinary action at Bournemouth after he breached lockdown guidelines by having a haircut.
On Wednesday the winger, who is no longer considered part of the first-team squad after a series of misdemeanours, posted a photograph on social media of himself wearing a mask alongside a barber wearing gloves.
The post has been deleted but the 24-year-old’s actions will have deeply disappointed Bournemouth, who have opened an investigation.
Ibe said in a statement released through his representatives: “I didn’t think it through and I apologise. I made sure to wear protective equipment but I didn’t realise it was in breach of the guidelines. There wasn’t any intent to disobey the guidelines and as soon as it was brought to my attention, I took the post down immediately.”
Ibe’s flouting of the government’s physical-distancing guidelines comes three weeks after he was fined by the club for breaking the terms of a 16-month driving ban. Ibe was stopped behind the wheel by police despite being banned in March after crashing his car into a shop in Bromley, south-east London. This month Ibe said in a statement released by his representatives that he had entered rehabilitation to “concentrate on becoming a better person after making poor judgements”.
Tottenham, meanwhile, announced on Wednesday that they had launched an investigation after images emerged of Serge Aurier posing with a barber.
Ibe has not played for Bournemouth’s first team since September and had been training with the under-23s since December. Ibe arrived at Bournemouth from Liverpool in 2016 for a then club-record £15m but is out of contract next month.
A Bournemouth spokesman said: “We have launched an internal investigation, the outcome of which will remain confidential.”
