Ten-year-old accused of racism for impersonating his favourite player

A 10-year-old football fan in the UK has become embroiled in a race row after he blackened his face to pay tribute to his favourite player.

The primary school student from Leeds painted his face black to mimic Leeds United's Senegalese striker El Hadji Diouf.

The boy posted a series of photos on Twitter posing with Diouf and other Leeds players, sparking criticism for the supposedly racist outfit.

The boy's father was forced to defend his son, who didn't realise his tribute was racist.

"I want to apologise if (my son) dressing up has caused offence," the father wrote on the boy's Twitter page.

"He asked to dress up as Diouf so we let him for a bit of fun. We completely underestimated the response it would get. Hes only 10 and likes the banter so lay off please thanks for positive comments."

In addition to blackening his face, the boy wore a full Leeds kit and even replicated Diouf's trademark bleached Mohawk.

The boy said Diouf and the other players found his outfit funny.

He also posed for photos with Leeds manager Neil Warnock and two police officers outside the ground.

After the pictures were posted, Twitter users took to the social networking site accusing the child of racism.

But several users came to the boy's defence, including Norwich City player Robert Snodgrass who tweeted: "Can't a kid dress up as one of his favourite players these days without people moaning. We were kids once."

For his part, the boy seemed unconcerned about the fuss he had caused.