CASUALS BOSS IN STADIUM BAN

...but Pearce is unrepentant over Twitter jibe

A DEFIANT Step 5 manager could quit after the FA upheld his eight-match stadium ban for referring to a referee as a “mongole” on social media.

Adam Pearce, boss and committee member at Midland Football League outfit Wolverhampton Casuals, posted on Twitter: ‘Ref we had today was nothing short of a mongole. They get worse by the week’ on Saturday, January 22, in a thread in which standards of officiating had been queried.

Education

In March, Staffordshire FA handed Pearce the ban, a £75 fine and ordered him to complete an education course. An appeal board, convened in May, deemed his defence incredible and ordered the punishments to kick in immediately.

The board’s report summarised Pearce’s case. It said he claimed that “mongole was a German word and not known in English, and therefore could not be offensive” and that he “did not accept” the term could be used to describe a disability because “it is spelt differently”.

An extract from the written reasons relating to Staffordshire FA’s original decision dismissed that assertion.

It read: “Adam Pearce was asked whether the referee was Mongolian. He said he did not know. The tweet was not a factual one.

“Even if it was, we do not accept it would have been necessary to refer to nationality or race if it was meant to signify support. It was meant to express disdain for the referee.”

The appeal board decided that “if anything, the commission had been charitable in affording the appellant (Pearce) an opportunity to explain”.

It continued: “The fact that the appellant was unable to do so, and before the appeal board contradicted his evidence (to) the commission was also telling.”

Having had his appeal quashed on all grounds, Pearce was said to be “less than forthcoming in offering assistance to the board and repeated more than once that he would not pay any costs”. He was later ordered to pay £250 costs.

Assumptions

When approached by The NLP, Pearce declined to explain the meaning of his tweet but said the FA’s interpretation had “used a lot of assumptions”. He denied that his comment had been aimed at the referee who had officiated Casuals on the day he posted. He later added: “In my professional life that terminology is used frequently and it is not a derogatory term. Someone has taken my term out of context. I apologise if they have taken it out of context and it has upset them but I am not apologising for that term because in my opinion it is not derogatory.”

As things stand, Pearce’s assistant will take charge of the team during a ban that precludes him from being on the premises on match days.

He added: “I don’t and will never agree with the outcome. I don’t agree with the whole disciplinary process, it is wholly unfair in my opinion. The FA appoint themselves judge, jury and executioner, there seems zero impartiality.

“I think the sanctions and financial sanctions are extremely excessive, especially in the current climate following a two-year pandemic, not just for myself but for any volunteer.

Process

“The whole process and my treatment from the FA has stripped my love for the game. Only out of a sense of loyalty to my committee will I continue for the time being.

“I fully understand why volunteers leave the grassroots game and clubs and leagues cease to exist season on season.

“The sanctions, which we are still adamant have nothing to do with Wolverhampton Casuals, have hindered the club extremely. To take a valued volunteer and committee member away for a huge chunk of the season is extremely damaging. The strain has been put back on a small and ageing committee, making it extremely difficult to keep the club alive. I felt the FA had zero compassion.

“I am still undecided on whether to pay any sanctions and whether I have the desire to return to the game in the future. If my committee was at full strength and in full health, I would have undoubtedly walked away from the game.”