Outrage at Owens’s Facebook ban

RUGBY legend Nigel Owens has been temporarily banned from Facebook after sharing a screenshot of someone aiming horrific homophobic abuse at him.

The former referee, who came out as gay in 2007, took to Twitter to explain that he had been blocked on the rival social media site for 30 days after posting a photo of a message he had been sent on Instagram containing a homophobic slur.

While he had been banned immediately, it seemed initially that the person who sent him the message had not faced any punishment. However, it appears the account has been deleted.

Explaining the situation, Nigel wrote: “I shared a post on Facebook of someone who was posting homophobic comments at me, and Facebook have blocked ME for 30 days.

“Not the person who was actually posting the homophobic comments. Unbelievable. And now I can’t contact Facebook to explain.”

Many of the former ref’s 428,000 Twitter followers rushed to offer him support with outraged fans describing the ban as “disgusting” and “disgraceful”.

“You are respected by so many Nigel,” wrote one. “This type of hatred has no place in society.

“It’s appalling how people can type it.”