Tonev is adamant he is not a racist

ALEKSANDAR TONEV last night broke cover to again deny he is a racist — despite his appeal against a seven-game ban for abusing Aberdeen’s Shay Logan failing on Tuesday. The on-loan Aston Villa winger lost his bid to have an earlier Judicial Panel judgment overturned, with an appellate body branding him an unreliable witness. Although Celtic have the option of taking the matter to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, so far the Parkhead club have only said they will seek to address the evidence used in the case — namely one man’s word against another — with the SFA. But yesterday the Bulgarian international appeared to draw a line under the matter by releasing a statement via the club website that suggested he feels the matter should now rest. ‘A lot has happened in

From Back Page the last few months,’ Tonev said. ‘It has been a very difficult time for me and everyone involved. All I can do is move on from this now. ‘I have made my case all along that I never used the words I was accused of using. ‘I say again that I did not do this, I know what I am and I am not a racist. ‘I want everyone to understand that — most of all the Celtic fans, who have been a great support to me since coming to the club. ‘I know what happened and I know that I will definitely recover from this as a stronger person.’ The Tonev case stemmed from the game between Celtic and Aberdeen at Parkhead on September 13. The Bulgarian was hit with a charge of racially abusing his opponent after Logan complained to referee Bobby Madden, his boss Derek McInnes and Celtic No 2 John Collins. The Appellate Tribunal, chaired by senior judge Lord Bonomy, found the Bulgarian guilty of calling Logan a ‘black c***’ and ruled there was no reason to overturn the initial verdict.