Burnley striker Andre Gray has been handed a four-match ban, relating to comments made on social media back in 2012.
Gray was charged with misconduct after using homophobic language on Twitter long before he joined the Clarets, but the tweets resurfaced shortly after he opened his Premier League account against Liverpool at Turf Moor.
The former Luton Town and Brentford frontman, who top-scored for Burnley as they won promotion to the Premier League last season, apologised for his ‘mistakes’ in a written statement and claimed he was ‘a different person’ at the time.
He has accepted the punishment, as have his club, with Burnley saying in a statement: ‘We believe this charge, regarding historical social media posts, should now also serve as a warning to all professional footballers, and participants in the wider sporting field.’
BREAKING: Andre Gray receives a four-match ban, with immediate effect, after an Independent Regulatory Commission hearing.
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— Burnley FC (@BurnleyOfficial) September 23, 2016
According to a statement on Burnley’s official website, ‘Gray was found guilty of six aggravated breaches of FA Rule E3(1) regarding comments deemed to be “abusive and/or insulting and/or improper and/or bringing the game into disrepute”‘.
The player admitted to three of the breaches and denied the other three, though these were also proven.
Gray, who represented England at non-league level while at Luton, will miss Burnley’s matches against Watford, Arsenal, Southampton and Everton, with the ban coming into immediate effect.
He has also been fined £25,000 plus costs, warned of his future conduct and ordered to take a one-to-one FA educational course.
