Humza Yousaf’s sporting tweets backfire after he fails to congratulate English wheelchair champ
Like millions of other Brits, the First Minister apparently spent much of the weekend in front of the television, watching tennis at Wimbledon and golf in East Lothian.
But Humza Yousaf’s somewhat clumsy attempts to only congratulate Scottish (or Spanish) sporting achievements sparked confusion and annoyance among many social media users.
The first faux pas came on Saturday night when he paid tribute to Gordon Reid OBE after winning his fifth Wimbledon title in men’s wheelchair doubles with longtime partner Alfie Hewett.
Yousaf tweeted: “Congratulations @GordonReid91 on your 5th Wimbeldon [sic] double title with @alfiehewett6another Grand Slam title in the bag!”
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However, several Twitter users seized on the tweet’s wording, which suggested Yousaf was congratulating the Scotsman rather than his English partner.
Reid, 31, from Alexandria has won 21 Grand Slams in doubles, all but three playing alongside 25-year-old Hewett from Norfolk. The pair have been playing together since 2017, completed one Grand Slam in the calendar year in 2021 and are currently in 15 consecutive finals.
Twitter user Bob Dow said: “Well worded, congratulations to Gordon Reid but not to his English-born doubles partner. Nationalism creates division.”
Another said: “It’s a win in doubles. Why don’t you congratulate both players, or are you so fanatical that you couldn’t congratulate the Englishman?”
Others poked fun at Celtic fan Yousaf as Reid, who received his OBE to mark the King’s birthday in June, is a big fan of Old Firm rivals Rangers.
The First Minister managed to spell Wimbledon correctly in his next tweet, in which he congratulated Carlos Alcaraz on his epic win over Novak Djokovic on Sunday.
But even that provoked strong reactions from many people, including one who said: “You should be way too busy fixing broken Scotland instead of watching tennis.”
Three hours later – at 10.17pm – Yousaf then tweeted in response to Bob MacIntyre’s performance at the Scottish Open in North Berwick (although the competition ended before the Wimbledon final had even started).
The popular Oban golfer finished 13 under par thanks to a memorable second shot on the 18th, but was ultimately defeated by Northern Ireland superstar Rory McIlroy, who finished with two birdies to set 14 under par.
Commenting on MacIntyre’s own post, he stated, “An amazing achievement, you did Scotland proud.” Once again, several people questioned why he didn’t even mention McIlroy’s achievement.
Others joked that he might be “applying for a job as a sportswriter,” saying, “I can’t believe that’s all you have to do.”
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