NEWCASTLE United have cancelled Eric Bristow's appearance at a charity night at St James' Park after the five-time world darts champion sparked outrage on social media with comments about the ongoing child abuse scandal in sport.

The club said in a statement: "In light of tweets made by the darts player Eric Bristow, Newcastle United has taken the decision today to withdraw him immediately from a scheduled appearance at an event taking place at St. James' Park on 6th December.

"The club will not work with Eric Bristow in the future. For those who have already bought tickets for the event, current player Kevin Painter has this morning confirmed he will take part."

Bristow, 59, launched into a Twitter rant on Monday in which he said "dart players tough guys footballers wimps".

He added that had been a victim of abuse he would have sought revenge as an adult and claimed he was glad he was a darts player and a "proper man".

The series of posts drew fierce criticism, including from Steve Walters, one of the former footballers to have spoken out about his abuse at the hands of convicted paedophile and former Crewe coach Barry Bennell, who tweeted: "Disgusted with Eric Bristows remarks tonight #stoneagementality."

So far more than 20 former footballers have come forward alleging they were victims of child abuse as junior players, Professional Footballers' Association chief executive Gordon Taylor has said. Numerous police forces are also investigating the allegations.

Bristsow wrote: "Might be a looney but if some football coach was touching me when i was a kid as i got older i would have went back and sorted that p**f out."

Another Tweet said "bet the rugby boys are ok" - prompting a reply from Brian Moore, the former England hooker who himself was abused as a child.

"I'm not even going to address the many reasons these tweets are wrong. I'll just say ignorance is no excuse for this idiocy," Moore wrote.

Bristow - awarded an MBE in 1989 - received widespread condemnation for his comments, but continued, adding: "Trouble is nowadays you cant tell the truth.

"Everybody that works on tv is frightened to say the truth because they are frightened to lose their job. Life shouldnt be like that."

Bristow has also been dropped as a pundit for Sky Sports on their darts coverage. A Sky Sports spokesman said: "He was a contributor to our darts coverage in the past but we will not be using him in the future."