Aston Villa midfielder Jack Grealish has apologised for breaking self-isolation a day after he was reportedly photographed at the scene of a car accident in the town of Solihull, England.
Residents in England have been asked to self-isolate indefinitely as the coronavirus spreads. The Premier League has been postponed until April 30 at the earliest, and Grealish took to social media Monday to express his regret for "stupidly" agreeing to leave his home.
"Hi everybody, I just want to do a quick video message to say how deeply embarrassed I am by what has happened this weekend. I know it is a tough time for everyone at the moment, being locked indoors for so long and I obviously just got a call off a friend asking to go round to his [home] and I stupidly agreed to do so," said the former England Under-21 international in a video message.
"I don't want anyone to make the same mistake that I did. I obviously urge everyone to stay at home and follow the rules and the guidelines of what we have been asked to do. I know for a fact that I'll be doing that in the near future now and I urge everyone to do the same.
"I hope everyone can accept my apology and we can move on from this and hopefully in the near future we can be out enjoying ourselves again once this has all boiled over."
Aston Villa said it was disappointment in Grealish's actions and promised discipline for the club captain.
"Aston Villa is deeply disappointed that one of our players ignored the Government's guidance on staying at home during the Coronavirus crisis," the club said in a statement.
"Club Captain Jack Grealish has accepted that his decision to leave his house was wrong and entirely unnecessary. It breached the government guidelines which are clear and should be adhered to by everybody.
"The player will be disciplined and fined with the proceeds donated to The University Hospitals Charity in Birmingham."