Professional soccer player Kian Harratt said he "felt terrible" after he was seen on video allegedly hurling a chair at a woman.
Harratt, 23, addressed the viral video — recorded on June 21 at a pool in Ibiza, Spain — in a message on TikTok posted Thursday, June 26. Harratt, who plays for the Oldham Athletic of England's EFL League two, said he was "very apologetic" about the incident in his video and explained his side of the story.
The soccer player claimed it was another man at the pool who "started it all" between the two groups, describing the individual as "the worst man you could ever come across and a bully" in his video caption.
"He was 6,6 and built like a brick," Harratt claimed, adding that the man was "swimming over to young couples" and making people "feel uncomfortable" by flirting with women at the pool.
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When the man "shouted over" to one of Harratt's friends, the athlete said the man "hit my pal in the face and dropped him and then proceeded to kick him in the face while he was down."
Harratt said a chair "then got lobbed towards" him during the scuffle. "So I picked the chair up and threw it back and it accidentally hit the woman," he explained. "I felt terrible, but I'd have felt even worse if we left my mate to get badly beaten up while he's trying to enjoy his holiday."
He concluded his post by saying he hopes the video "opens people's eyes" and he felt like he "had to post it" because he's been receiving "nothing but abuse all morning" since the video circulated.
Harratt's team, Oldham Athletic Football Club, said they were aware of the video and would be conducting a "thorough investigation" into the incident, per the BBC. The club also reportedly said it "strongly condemns violence of any kind" and told the outlet, "Until the outcome of that investigation there will be no further comment."
The woman who was hit with the chair can be seeing falling down after she was struck and a second person involved appeared to fall into the pool during the scuffle.
