Sunderland have extended an invitation to Nigel Farage to attend one of their home games, the Reform leader has claimed – just days after his visit to Ipswich Town came under scrutiny.
The former UKIP MEP was photographed on a stadium tour this week, posing with shirts emblazoned with ‘FARAGE 10’ and pretending to sign a contract in the press room, as well as joking about becoming the club’s latest manager.
Supporters were divided on the stadium visit, prompting a spokesperson to issue a statement stressing that it was not an ‘official invitation of any kind’ and that it had caused ‘some embarrassment’.
But when asked by ITV News about the visit, Farage was bullish about his wish to visit stadiums across the country, naming Sunderland as a potential next destination.
‘I’ve been talking to one of the directors, and they’d very much like to see me there for a home game,’ Farage said. ‘If I can make it, I will.’
Farage went on to state that Reform are against the government’s incoming football regulator in a bid not to stifle the success of the English product.
‘Clubs should want to talk to me,’ he added. ‘The government is about to bring in a regulator and I think the last thing English football needs – given what a massive success the Premier League is – is a state-appointed regulator.
‘It’s a conversation I had at Ipswich the other day and I’ll have at Sunderland before very long and I want to speak to all the clubs about this.’
‘It’s not about support,’ Farage said of a possible invite to Sunderland. ‘It’s about a football club being open to leaders of national political parties.’
ITV News believe that Sunderland co-owner Juan Sartori – who owns a 34 per cent stake at the Stadium of Light – is the director who has made the invitation to Farage.
The two men are thought to have met at the World Economic Forum in Davos earlier this year, which is where Sartori is said to have first invited the 61-year-old to the home of the Black Cats.
Uruguayan Sartori previously attempted to enter politics in his home country with an abortive bid to become leader of the country’s right-wing National Party, and later was elected to the Senate.
Sartori is believed to admire the MP for Clacton, with Reform having hoped to visit the club this week, although no formal visit was arranged.
In the aftermath of Farage’s contentious visit, Ipswich’s local rivals, Norwich City, took the opportunity to poke fun at their Old Farm Derby opponents.
‘Book a stadium tour of Carrow Road – new dates now available,’ the club posted on social media. ‘Terms and conditions will most definitely apply.’
Farage responded, tweeting: ‘See you next week!’
