TIVI ARE DENIED IN RACE APPEAL

THE Football Association’s ‘full review’ of the racism row that led to a Step 5 match being abandoned has concluded with no change of verdict.

Tividale decided to walk off from a Midland League Premier Division clash at Whitchurch Alport on November 5 after being informed at half-time that an assistant referee had overheard what was deemed to be a racist remark from the crowd targeted towards Tivi goalkeeper Louis Connor.

A Twitter spat was followed by club statements with Alport declaring themselves “disappointed that management and players of Tividale refused to play” on, “thereby forcing the referee to abandon the match”, while Tivi stated the referee had given them discretion to stop playing “in line with FA protocol”.

In November, Tividale assistant manager Stuart How told The NLP that “the officials were strongly behind us in making that decision”.

Most investigations in relation to Step 5 clubs are conducted by county FAs. Staffordshire FA decided Alport had no case to answer, and while Birmingham FA found that Tividale had caused the game to be abandoned, they confirmed there had been “a high degree of mitigation” and did not issue a fine.

That led to the Midland League, in line with standardised rules set by the FA for leagues at that level, awarding the three points to Whitchurch Alport.

The backlash was picked up by Sky Sports with Connor’s father, Blackpool assistant manager Terry Connor, speaking out on television, prompting the FA to look again.

Sky reported at the time that Staffordshire FA had deemed the comment to be “descriptive rather than offensive”.

An FA spokesperson said: “We take all allegations of discrimination extremely seriously and have conducted a full review into the incident that took place during the match between Whitchurch Alport and Tividale on November 5.

“After a thorough investigation, which included gathering new witness statements, we can confirm that there is insufficient evidence to raise a charge of discrimination.”