When is a racist not a racist?

PETER BEARDSLEY declared himself “vindicated” that an FA hearing had “expressly found that he is not a racist” this week.

The detailed findings of an FA regulatory commission confirmed this claim to be true, despite the shocking evidence heard.

The panel agreed that: “It is possible for someone who is not racist to commit acts of racial discrimination.”

So let’s get this straight. Beardsley called a player a “monkey” after playing head tennis.

He suggested black players should be good at climbing trees at a Go Ape team bonding day.

He questioned whether a black player was really 18, pandering to a racial stereotype that black player ages can’t be believed.

The commission itself called some of the evidence against Beardsley “obvious racism”.

Yet Peter Beardsley is officially ‘not a racist’.

It begs the question: how bad does the conduct of a football legend have to be to have him condemned as a racist? Do they have to turn up on extreme rightwing marches as well as call a player a monkey?

How many offences have to be revealed before a pattern of coaching behaviour, or a mindset, is considered “racist”?

More than Beardsley’s three, it would seem.

Of course, he has ‘legend’ status protecting him, perhaps why the commission said it “regretted” its verdict, and called Beardsley a “towering” figure in football.

But I’m betting the next fan who calls a player a “monkey” from the terraces is immediately classed as a racist and rightly banned from the ground for life.

The FA do get credit for pursuing these allegations and putting them into the public domain after Newcastle’s hush-hush internal probe saw him sacked as Under-23s coach.

Beardsley confirms he will retrain on a special course and wants to continue being a coach.

That may prove more difficult than he thinks. LOW-LEVEL hooliganism is alive and well.

Until I attended Barnsley l versus Ld Leeds l last t weekend, it had been years since I’d witnessed thugs with windmilling fists surge towards a pitch and dish it out to stewards.

Such horrible aggression and mindless confrontation ended with three Leeds fans being arrested.

To his credit, Marcelo Bielsa ignored an official, who suggested there would only be a club statement ‘later’. He quickly chipped in: “I feel pity that something like that happened.”

Leeds fans should also condemn the fighting and start to self-police such behaviour.