The
newspaper said it had been unaware of Mr Barkley's heritage and there was
"never any slur intended".
The
23-year-old footballer's grandfather was born in Nigeria.
The
Sun said it had been contacted by Mr Barkley's lawyers, who had made a formal
complaint about the piece.
In
the article, published on 14 April, Mr MacKenzie said looking at Mr Barkley's
eyes had given him a "similar feeling when seeing a gorilla at the
zoo".
His
eyes made him "certain not only are the lights not on, there is definitely
nobody at home", he wrote.
Alongside
the article, was an image of a gorilla next to a picture of the midfielder.
The
columnist is currently suspended by the newspaper.
The
Sun's apology, printed on page five of the paper, said that as soon as Mr
Barkley's background was drawn to its attention, the article was removed from
online.
The
apology did not extend to other elements of the article, in which Mr MacKenzie
suggested that the only people in Liverpool who could earn as much as
footballers were drug dealers.
The Sun apology in full:
"On
April 14 we published a piece in the Kelvin MacKenzie column about footballer
Ross Barkley which made unfavourable comparisons between Mr Barkley and a
gorilla.
"At
the time of publication, the newspaper was unaware of Mr Barkley's heritage and
there was never any slur intended.
"As
soon as his background was drawn to our attention, the article was removed from
online.
"We
have been contacted by lawyers on behalf of Ross Barkley, who has made a formal
complaint about the piece.
"The
Sun has apologised for the offence caused by the piece.
"We
would like to take this opportunity to apologise personally to Ross
Barkley."
Source: bbcnews
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