An ex-Premier League footballer accused of sparking a brawl outside a nightclub has told a court he “had nothing to do with violence that night”.
Kazenga Lua Lua, formerly of Newcastle United and now playing for Brighton and Hove Albion, also said he was “not an arrogant man” and “did not do anything wrong”.
The 22-year-old said after leaving a nightclub in Newcastle in June last year he walked between two white males.
He told the court one of them said he should have said excuse me, but he told the man not to tell him what to do and walked through them again.
Newcastle Crown Court heard from Lua Lua the white male then pushed him to the ground, so he got up and tapped him in the face.
But James Adkin, prosecuting, said: “You were being provocative. Instead of apologising you were deliberately provocative. Do you think different rules apply to you?
"Are you the sort of person who thinks he can do what he wants?”
Surrounded
Lua Lua said after the altercation a group of white men surrounded him but a friend pulled him away before a large-scale fight broke out.
He said: “When a black man is surrounded by white people like that you don’t know what will happen to you.”
When Mr Adkin questioned him about his responsibility as a footballer, he said: “I had nothing to do with the violence that took place that night. I did nothing wrong.
“I’m not an arrogant man, I’m a normal person.”
Along with Lua Lua friends Andy Mogwo and Kevin Ashong are also accused of affray, which they deny.
The trial continues.
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