Yems banned for 18 months after our racism exposé
Former Crawley manager John Yems was last night banned from football for 18 months by the FA following Sportsmail’s revelations that he used racist language towards ds his own players.
The 63-year-old was found guilty of 12 charges of using discriminatory language while in charge of the League Two club last season, with the FA imposing the longest ban they have ever handed out for racist abuse. Sportsmail revealed in April that half a dozen Crawley players had complained to the PFA about Yems’ racist language, which led to his immediate suspension by the club and departure the following month.
The FA charged Yems (right) with 16 aggravated breaches of their rules for making comments which ‘included a reference to ethnic origin and/or colour and/or race and/or nationality and/or religion or belief and/ or gender’ in July, with his disciplinary hearing taking place last month. Yems admitted one of the charges and denied 15, of which a three-person independent panel found him guilty of 11. Among many shocking allegations made against Yems by a group of seven Crawley players were that he routinely used the n-word at training and called players from ethnic minority backgrounds abusive names such as suicide bomber, curry muncher and Zulu warrior. A separate charge that he discriminated against players on the basis of their race by forcing black members of his squad to change in a separate dressing room at the club’s training ground was denied by Yems, and later withdrawn by the FA.
‘An independent regulatory Commission has suspended John Yems from all football and football-related activity up to and including June 1, 2024, and ordered him to attend an education programme for 12 breaches of FA rule e3.2,’ an FA statement read. Yems’ suspension was last night welcomed by the PFA, with the union’s senior equalities executive Jason Lee hailing the courage of the players who reported their boss. ‘It takes bravery to come forward to report issues like this,’ Lee said. ‘When players make that decision, they are likely to have given it a lot of thought. “What will it mean for my future at the club? Will it impact my career if I say something?” It’s a massive thing for an individual to do, and that’s why it’s so vital that players have the confidence they will be believed, listened to and supported.’