According to a report by BBC Sport, Newcastle midfielder Jonjo Shelvey has pleaded not guilty to the FA’s charge of using racially abusive language to Wolve’s Moroccan midfielder Roman Saiss.
The England international was charged following an incident which occured during the Magpie’s 2-0 defeat to Wolves on Saturday 17th September. Shelvey has now requested a personal FA hearing in an attempt to prove his innocence and clear his name.
The incident was brought to referee Tim Robinson’s attention by one of Saiss’s team-mates immediately after the match. It is believed that Saiss was unaware that racial language had been used as his English is very limited.
Fa guidelines, revised in 2013, state that anyone who is found guilty of racially abusing a a fellow player or discriminating based on religion, disability or sexuality, will be banned for at least 5 games. Therefore, if found guilty, Shelvey faces a lengthy ban.
However, until then Rafa Benitez is free to select Shelvey if he wishes to do so, as he is, as the well-known saying goes, ‘innocent until proven guilty’.
