Richard Keys could be sued by Newcastle United after he claimed Hatem Ben Arfa 'chinned' Toon boss Alan Pardew

Former Sky Sports presenter Richard Keys could be sued after tweeting that Newcastle player Hatem Ben Arfa 'chinned' manager Alan Pardew



The club have taken to their complaint to the Premier League and Keys' employer BeIn Sports

Keys will not be allowed access to any of their players or staff until he makes an apology on his Twitter account

Newcastle deny the incident ever took place

Newcastle are threatening legal action against controversial TV presenter Richard Keys after he claimed Hatem Ben Arfa ‘chinned’ manager Alan Pardew.

Sportsmail can reveal that Newcastle have already taken their complaint to the Barclays Premier League and Keys’ employer, BeIn Sports.

Newcastle are refusing to give Keys, who now lives in Doha, any access to their players or staff until he has made an apology on his Twitter account.

Legal action: Richard Keys could be sued by Newcastle after he claimed Hatem Ben Arfa 'chinned' Alan Pardew

Denial: Newcastle have denied any such incident took place and are demanding an apology

Keys tweeted on May 3: ‘Heard Ben Arfa chinned Pardew. If that’s the case one or the other will have to go.’

According to Newcastle’s legal team, Keys made the extraordinary allegations during their 3-0 victory over Cardiff.

Pardew was then quizzed about the claims of the BeIn Sports presenter immediately after the game by the media.

Retraction: The club has demanded he retract the statement - he has deleted the tweet - and apologise

Resignation: Keys left Sky after making derogatory remarks about female assistant referee Sian Massey

Newcastle have denied any such incident took place and have written to BeIn Sport demanding an apology.

They have also reserved the right to sue Keys if he doesn’t retract the claims made on Twitter, which were then re-tweeted many times over.

Keys appears to have deleted the offensive tweet, but Newcastle are not letting the matter rest until he has apologised on Twitter.

Sexism: Andy Gray was also sacked after the comments about Massey and Sky Sports presenter Charlotte Jackson

Airwaves: The pair present a weekly show on talkSPORT

Newcastle have also written to the Premier League about Keys’ behaviour and claim he has overstepped the mark as a presenter.

Keys and his fellow presenter Andy Gray left Sky Sports in 2011 after making derogatory remarks about female assistant referee Sian Massey before a Premier League match between Wolves and Liverpool.

Gray was sacked in January 2011 after further comments he made about Sky Sports presenter Charlotte Jackson came to light, while Keys resigned soon afterwards.



