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Marseille gag Joey Barton after Thiago Silva Twitter tirade
JOEY BARTON has had his knuckles rapped by Marseille after angering club chiefs with yet another Twitter tirade.
The on-loan Marseille man labelled Thiago Silva an "overweight ladyboy" on the social-networking site hours after Paris Saint-Germain's Champions League quarter-final clash with Barcelona.
Barton has been ordered by Marseille officials to cease his attack on the Brazilian, which was also condemned by PSG and an anti-homophobia group.
The midfielder wrote a series of tweets in which he questioned whether Silva was a "pre-op or post-op" transsexual.
Marseille have released a statement apologising for Barton's "inappropriate comments" and added: "The management asked Joey Barton to put an end to the attack on PSG's Brazilian defender.
"The Marseille midfielder pledged to immediately cease the posting of anything derogatory about Thiago Silva."
Anti-homophobia group Paris Foot Gay said they had discussed Barton's comments with French league chiefs and were informed that he would be reported to the French Football Federation's national ethical council.
PSG are pondering whether to take action against Barton while French newspaper L'Equipe today has a picture of the one-cap England international dominating its front page, with the caption "Is that British humour?".
Barton signed a loan deal at Marseille in August after falling out of favour at QPR.
He is no stranger to controversy having upset The FA and Dietmar Hamann with Twitter rants.