Football star 'crashes' car hours after 'stay home' message

Aston Villa captain Jack Grealish has found himself at the centre of a bizarre incident after reportedly smashing his 80,000 pound ($A161,000) car into a number of parked vehicles.

An investigation has been launched after photos appeared to show Grealish at the scene of an incident in which a Range Rover - said to belong to him - crashed into two parked cars.

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West Midlands Police said they were called on Sunday morning to the Dickens Heath area of Solihull, where two parked cars suffered minor damage.

The force said the driver left his details with a member of the public before leaving the scene on foot.

Images surfaced online on Sunday of a damaged white Range Rover as well as a photo that appeared to show the Villa midfielder in shorts, a blue hoodie, a slipper on one foot and a slide on his other.

Less than 24 hours before the incident, the 24-year-old launched a video appeal for people to stay at home during the government-enforced lockdown.

In the video, he said: "To help save lives you must stay at home.

"Only leave your house to buy food, buy medicine or to exercise and always remember to stay at least two metres apart.

"This is urgent, protect the NHS, stay home, save lives."

In a statement about the incident, the West Midlands force said: "We were called to Waterside, Dickens Heath, just before 10am to reports that a Range Rover had crashed into two parked cars in the street.

"The driver left his details with a member of the public at the scene before leaving on foot, and will be spoken to by police in due course.

"Minor damage was caused to the parked vehicles.

"Officers are investigating the circumstances and anyone with information has been asked to get in touch, via Live Chat at west-midlands.police.uk quoting log 643 of 29 March."

Villa were unavailable for comment on Sunday.

Cristiano Ronaldo criticised over quarantine response

Grealish isn't the only football star to court controversy while supposedly in quarantine, with Cristiano Ronaldo also under fire.

The Juventus star was criticised by the club's former president Giovanni Cobolli Gigli over his actions in the coronavirus pandemic, with the five-time Ballon d’Or winner considered to have ‘complicated’ matters.

The Portuguese star was allowed to head back to his native Madeira before public life in Italy shut down, with the Juve squad placed in quarantine once it was revealed that Daniele Rugani had tested positive for Covid-19.

Ronaldo had been freed by then to return to his homeland after seeing his mother suffer a stroke - Maria Dolores has since been released from hospital - and is continuing her recovery in a private medical facility, with her son allowed to turn his attention elsewhere.

But Gigli claims the 35-year-old is now more concerned with “taking pictures by the pool” and has set an unfortunate precedent that is making it difficult for other sports stars to be contained.

The likes of Gonzalo Huguain, Miralem Pjanic and Douglas Costa have been released from the Juve camp to join their respective families around the world.

“Things at Juventus got complicated when Cristiano Ronaldo left,” Gigli told Radio Punto Nuovo.

“He said he was going to Portugal because of his mother, but now he only appears to be taking pictures by the pool.

“When the exception was made for him, things fell apart and others wanted to leave but it shouldn't have been like this.

“They all should have been quarantined.”

Juventus in difficult spot due to virus

Gigli admits that Juventus have been forced into a corner when it comes to letting senior stars flee Italy.

He feels that the reigning Serie A champions will now find it difficult to get back up to speed once a return to competitive action is given a green light.

Those outside of Turin have been given individual training regimes, but they will be short of sharpness when returning to the Allianz Stadium and have to prove that they are not carriers of the coronavirus.

Gigli added: “Criticising now is easy, but from the outside I don’t know why players wanted to leave Italy.

“When they return it'll be more difficult to get back in shape because they'll have to stay in quarantine for 14 days.”

With Yahoo Sport