The Sunday World revealed that one of the men wanted for questioning in relation to the abuse by Chelsea fans of the man known as Souleymane S on the Paris Metro week is a former RUC and PSNI officer.
A video emerged following Chelsea's draw with PSG during the week which showed fans denying Souleymane S entry to the train.
Richard Barklie (pictured in the centre above), who hails from Carrickfergus, Co. Antrim, issued a statement through his solicitor on Sunday evening apologising for involvement in the incident which prevented Souleymane S from boarding the train. However, he denies taking part in racist chanting.
Here's the statement in full.
We act on behalf of Mr Barklie identified as one of the people sought by authorities investigating an incident on the Paris Metro on 16/2/15.
We contacted London Metropolitan Police today to advise that our client is happy to assist with inquiries.
Pending formal engagement with police, our client is anxious to put on record his total abhorrence for racism and any activity associated with it.
As someone who has spent years working with disadvantaged communities in Africa and India he can point to a cv in human rights work which undermines any suggestion he is racist.
Today a senior official in the World Human Rights Forum confirmed their support for him.
Mr Barklie is a Chelsea season ticket holder and has travelled to matches for over 20 years now without incident.
He travelled alone to the Paris St Germain match and has no knowledge whatsoever of the identities of the other people depicted in recent YouTube video releases. He wants to stress that he was not and never has been part of any group or faction of Chelsea supporters.
He did not participate in racist chanting and singing and condemns any behaviour supporting that.
He accepts he was involved in an incident when a person now known to him as Souleymane S was unable to enter a part of the train.
He has an account to give to police which will explain the context and circumstances as they prevailed at that particular time.
In the meantime pending that, he wants to put on record his sincerest apologies for the trauma and stress suffered by Mr Souleymane.
He readily acknowledges that any judgement on the integrity of his apology will be kept in abeyance pending the outworkings of the investigation.
Given the extremely sensitive nature of the issues engaged we urge upon all media outlets to exercise as much restraint as possible when commenting on the case.
We accept on behalf of our client that public interest demands nothing but total indignation and condemnation from all media reporting but such reporting ought not to persist at the expense of undermining Mr Barklie's right to a fair trial.
Tonight London Met confirmed with us that arrangements were in hand to take the investigation to the next stage
The 50-year-old is a director of the World Human Rights Forum. He also works with The WAVE Trauma Centre which supports people affected by the Troubles in Northern Ireland.
