England and Manchester United footballer Harry Maguire on Wednesday accepted the apology of a Ghanaian Member of Parliament, Isaac Adongo, who mocked him during a parliamentary debate on the budget last year.
Adongo, an opposition lawmaker, had compared the economic management of Ghana’s Vice-President Mahamadu Bawumia to Maguire’s performance on the pitch, describing both as poor performers who score own goals.
In a viral video on social media last year, Adongo compared Bawumia to Maguire, whom he described as “the biggest threat at the centre of the Manchester United defence”.
However, in a similar debate on the 2024 budget on Tuesday, Adongo said he wanted to correct the record, stating that the English defender had “turned the corner.”
“I now apologise to Harry Maguire. Today, Maguire has turned the corner, and he is a transformational footballer. Harry Maguire is now scoring goals for Manchester United. Mr. Speaker, Harry Maguire is now a key player for Manchester United,” Adongo said during the budget debate.
Accepting the MP’s apology, Maguire wrote on X (formerly Twitter), “See you at Old Trafford soon.”
Speaking to the BBC’s Newsday programme, Adongo explained that he had used “Harry Maguire’s struggle for form from 2021 to 2022” to communicate his dissatisfaction with Ghana’s economy.
“When Harry’s form improved, I felt that he deserved an apology. As a lover of football, it was important that I recognised his turnaround.”
When Adongo was asked about the footballer accepting his apology, he said: “That humility has made my day, this brings closure.”
