Neville row turns toxic as FA are accused of double standards
THE FA have been accused of double standards as the row over Phil Neville’s appointment as England women’s head coach turned toxic.
Neville has apologised for remarks, deemed sexist, that he made in 2012 on Twitter.
The FA insisted they did “not meet the threshold for issuing a charge” against him. But the PFA are asking why FA employees can avoid censure when players are punished for similarly ill-judged social-media dialogue.
Ex-West Ham striker Carlton Cole is considering
action to force the FA to pay back a £20,000 fine slapped on him for comments he made on Twitter in 2011.
Cole now believes that the FA can no longer punish players for their social-media activity.
“I’ve got nothing against Phil Neville but you can’t have one rule for one and another for everyone else,” said Cole. “You have to be consistent.
“Everyone is saying that what Phil Neville said was just a joke but what about my joke?
“Players will find it hard to accept being charged for tweeting and I reckon they might even fight it. They would be justified.” Cole had joked that an England friendly against Ghana at Wembley was a trap by the British government to find illegal immigrants.
Neville, 41, tweeted in 2012: “When I said ‘morning men’ I thought the women would have been busy preparing breakfast/getting kids ready/making beds. Sorry, morning women!”
In another, he joked to his 1.6million followers that he had “just battered the wife.” Roisin Wood, CEO of Kick It Out, said that such words were “misogynistic and sexist.”
She added: “In the light of recent action taken against players, the question must now be asked: Will the FA be charging Neville for posting discriminatory comments on social media?” One FA
councillor told Mirror Sport: “I can’t believe after the past nine months of reviews within the FA, when we’ve looked at issues of equality, ethnicity and women’s rights, that we’ve ended up in this mess. It beggars belief.”
Neville, who has now deleted his Twitter account, said yesterday: “The comments are not a true and genuine reflection of either my character or beliefs, and I would like to apologise.”
FA chief executive Martin Glenn explained: “Our assessment is that those comments would not meet the threshold for issuing a charge, but Phil will be educated on all aspects of his role.”