FA staff warned they face sack for offensive social media posts

FA chair Debbie Hewitt has written to staff warning their jobs will be at risk if they cause offence on social media.

Mail Sport can reveal the FA have circulated a letter, signed by Hewitt, reminding council and committee members that any breach of the organisation’s code of conduct will be investigated and the ‘fullest action’ considered if wrongdoing is proved.

The letter reminds recipients to show caution and restraint with public remarks that could be viewed as inflammatory.

The note from Hewitt arrives amid two major social-media controversies that have caused the FA embarrassment over the Israel-Hamas conflict.

They have suspended council member Wasim Haq pending an internal investigation after he posted on social media: ‘Adolf Hitler would be proud of Benjamin Netanyahu.’

Last month, the chair of the FA’s inclusion advisory board Deji Davies saw his position thrown into doubt following the emergence of a historic anti-Israel tweet.

The message from 2013 read: ‘Boycotting European U21 tournament. Shouldn’t be being held in Israel at all. Certainly won’t be watching #FreePalestine.’

Mail Sport revealed last week that the FA had launched an internal review into Davies’s controversial post. However, the FA insisted that did not constitute a full investigation and was part of a wider audit into recent events, including the governing body declining to light up Wembley’s arch in the colours of the Israeli flag for England’s friendly against Australia.

The fact the FA have opened an official investigation into Haq’s post, but not done the same for Davies, has caused some surprise behind the scenes.