No FA action against Firmino over Holgate spat

LONDON: Liverpool forward Roberto Firmino will face no disciplinary action following his clash with Everton’s Mason Holgate in the FA Cup third-round tie at Anfield last month.

Officials announced on Wednesday there was insufficient evidence to uphold an allegation of “discriminatory conduct” during the Merseyside derby clash.

Firmino and Holgate were involved in an angry exchange after the Everton defender pushed the Brazilian into the front row of the stand shortly before half-time of Liverpool’s 2-1 win.

Words were exchanged which left the 21-year-old Holgate incensed. Referee Bobby Madley made reference to an allegedly racist remark that had been reported to him, understood to be by the Everton defender on the pitch and Everton officials after the match.

That prompted the FA, English football’s governing body, to look into the incident.

However, a FA statement issued Wednesday said: “Following a detailed investigation into an allegation of discriminatory conduct against Liverpool’s Roberto Firmino by Everton’s Mason Holgate, the FA can confirm that it will not be taking any disciplinary action against Firmino.”

Firmino, responding to Wednesday’s decision, insisted he never had and never would use racist language although he stressed it was “critical for football that tackling racism and all forms of discrimination is taken extremely seriously.”

“As someone who has experienced racist abuse during my life, I know how damaging and hurtful it can be,” he added in a statement issued on his behalf by Liverpool.

Meanwhile, Leicester City have paid the English Football League £3.1 million (RM17 million) to settle a Financial Fair Play dispute, it was announced Wednesday.

The EFL governs the three divisions below the Premier League and Leicester were deemed to have breached their FFP rules when they won the 2013/14 second-tier Championship title, thereby gaining automatic promotion to the top flight.

But the EFL have now said Leicester “did not make any deliberate attempt to infringe the rules or to deceive“, with problems arising from differing interpretations of the rules.

“In reaching a settlement, the EFL acknowledges that the club (Leicester) did not make any deliberate attempt to infringe the rules or to deceive and that the dispute arose out of genuine differences of interpretation of the rules between the parties,” said a Football League statement.

Financial Fair Play rules, now in force across a number of leagues and European competitions, are designed to stop clubs bankrupting themselves in pursuit of success and also to ensure that teams are not penalised unduly for sound financial management.