Aleksandar Antonov made remarks about footballer believed to be Raheem Sterling in private group chat

With millions of players around the world, the Fantasy Premier League is meant to recreate the competitive excitement and experience of managing a football team in England’s top division.

Instead, it has triggered an off-pitch row after this year’s champion was disqualified for allegedly offensive comments made “in a moment of frustration” about a Premier League player, understood to be the Manchester City striker Raheem Sterling.