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Joey Barton: warned again. Yui Mok/PA Wire/Press Association Images
This Charming Man

Big brother is watching: Barton slams 'Orwellian' FA

QPR midfielder is warned by football chiefs not to tweet about upcoming games ‘in case that is seen as insider information’.

JOEY BARTON HAS been warned by English football chiefs about making predictions on Premier League games, the outspoken QPR midfielder says.

Barton tweeted today that he received a letter from the FA this morning – his ’30th since he started tweeting’ – to remind him that professional footballers are not to venture an opinion on an upcoming game.

And the controversial former England man, who has professed his admiration for George Orwell in the past, claims the Football Assoiation are acting like ‘Big Brother’.

“Just received my weekly warning letter from FA headquarters, this time regarding me tweeting about predicting the weekends Manchester double,” he wrote.

“According to the FA, I am not allowed to give my opinion of possible results in case that is seen as insider information. These people are…[s]o out of touch with reality its untrue. What difference does my opinion of the outcome of a match, have on the result? None.

“The strange thing is they have probably sent me 30 letters since I started tweeting. That’s 30 pieces of paper wasted….stop sending please. I’ll prob get a letter about the last few tweets. Thats how ridiculous its become. Drastic shake up needed to move the game into 21st century.

“Hopefully they stop trying to be an Orwellian organisation and get to grips with the change that’s happening in the world around them.”

But jsut when you think he’s lost the run of himself again, the one-cap international finishes with a flourish:

“If I get another letter, I might have to consider retiring from international football in protest………” he added.

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