FA to take no action over Henderson-Gabriel incident after investigation

The Football Association has announced that no disciplinary action will be taken over an alleged comment made by Liverpool’s Jordan Henderson to the Arsenal defender Gabriel Magalhães.

The FA said it had conducted a “full and thorough investigation” after receiving a complaint relating to an incident during Arsenal’s 3-2 home win over Liverpool on 9 October.

The FA said in a statement: “The investigation included taking witness statements from the complainant and accused, along with an additional six players who were within proximity of the alleged incident, reviewing multiple angles of video footage, and seeking independent linguistics experts evidence. None of the witnesses heard the alleged comment, and the player accused strenuously denied the allegation throughout.

“Whilst the FA is entirely satisfied that the allegation was made in good faith, it is equally satisfied that there is no case to answer. The FA continues to take all allegations received extremely seriously and would encourage anyone who believes that they have been the subject of or witness to abuse to report this through the appropriate channels.”

The match at Emirates Stadium was briefly paused as Michael Oliver, the referee, ran to the touchline to speak with the managers, Mikel Arteta and Jürgen Klopp, after an argument erupted inside the Liverpool penalty area. Oliver spoke again to both managers after the game before the matter was referred to the FA.

Arteta said a few days later that he would “100%” support the version of events given from Arsenal’s side.