The Sun has published an apology to Everton and England footballer Ross Barkley over a column by Kelvin MacKenzie in which he compared the midfielder to a gorilla.
The piece, headlined 'Ross Barkley: Sun apology', appeared after the April 14 opinion piece in the paper sparked uproar and accusations of racism.
Alongside the column, which made disparaging remarks about the star, was a photograph of a gorilla's eyes below a close-up of the eyes of Barkley, whose grandfather was born in Nigeria.
The apology on page five of Saturday's newspaper read: 'On April 14 we published a piece in the Kelvin MacKenzie column about footballer Ross Barkley which made unfavourable comparisons between Mr Barkley and a gorilla.