Averof Panteli, 57, was charged after throwing a banana peel at Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang after the Arsenal striker scored his first goal, the Spurs fan has since claimed he isn't racist.

The Tottenham supporter has been charged with 'throwing a missile' on the pitch, while Spurs authorities slapped him with a lifetime ban.

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Panteli told The Sun he threw the banana without racial implications: "I'm not racist whatsoever. I am actually a Greek Cypriot. I am 100 per cent not a racist.

"I swear on my kids' lives that I am not that kind of guy.

"The police were happy to say it was not racism.

"I phoned Tottenham to apologise and they said they would be getting in touch with me to ban me for life.

"I have been friends with black people all my life. I do not have a criminal record and I have never been in trouble with the law in my life.

"The only thing I have ever done was run on the pitch at Spurs when I was 14 and I got chucked out of the ground."

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Panteli is set to plead guilty to the charge of 'throwing a missile' when he appears at Highbury Corner magistrates court later this month. 

A spokesperson for Tottenham said: Behavior such as this is completely unacceptable and the supporter in question will be issued with a ban."

Aubameyang scored two goals in Arsenal's 4-2 win over Tottenham and the Gabon striker finds himself top of the Premier League scoring charts with 10 goals.