Man City fire controversial radio hosts for making racist Jackie Chan jokes

Manchester City have sacked two members of casual staff for alleged racist remarks made on a podcast dedicated to the club.

Mike McClean and Nigel Clucas worked at the 'City Square' fanzone outside the Etihad Stadium before matches and were involved in half-time entertainment on the pitch.

The pair, both radio personalities, broadcast offensive skits involving stereotypically racist Chinese and Spanish accents on the 30-minute podcast. City acted swiftly to relieve both of their duties.

McClean and Clucas have caused controversy before - also editing a recording of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer for a spoof interview in which the Manchester United manager was doctored to suggest his players had extra-marital affairs while away on tour.

And while discussing City's late arrival in China for last month's pre-season tour, a fictitious 'Mr Wong' claimed the club's plane was twice cancelled because of a lack of Jackie Chan films on the flight.

In the 'Mr Wong' persona, McClean was recorded saying: 'You like Jackie Chan? Me (sic) like Jackie Chan! We no (sic) have paperwork or Jackie Chan film on plane. You need Jackie Chan film on plane.'

The 'City sausage' podcast is not affiliated to the Premier League champions but will cause significant embarrassment – particularly given Chinese investors own 13 per cent of the City Football Group.

A City statement read: 'Upon being made aware of the podcast in question, Manchester City immediately began to examine the circumstances of its creation and publication.

'The presenters responsible for the podcast, made independently from the club, had been engaged by Manchester City to support match day events.

'A decision has been made that they will no longer be retained by the club. The club has a zero-tolerance approach to discrimination of any kind and strongly condemns behaviour of this nature.'

This controversy comes just weeks after press agency Xinhua accused City of showing 'utter disrespect' to China during their five-night stay on their pre-season tour, citing Pep Guardiola heading straight for the team bus rather than signing autographs after a match.

The City boss hit back at the report - only published on Xinhua English language website - after they landed in Hong Kong for the second leg of the pre-season tour.