Andre Gray handed four-game ban by Independent Regulatory Commission

[rossdapep]

Burnley forward Andre Gray has been handed a four-game suspension by the FA for misconduct in relation to comments he made on social media.

The ban starts with immediate effect and the 25-year-old has also been fined £25,000, warned as to his future conduct, and ordered to attend an FA education course.

Is this a first? Seems a bit odd to punish a guy for comments made 4 years ago, even if they were unacceptable.

It got me thinking, if Gray is banned for remarks made on Twitter four years ago, then why was Vardy given an almost free ride after his racist remarks and behaviour?

I can't help but feel that this is doubt standards.

 

[Mr.D]

The world has gone mad.

 

[nailsy]

Surely they could have suspended the punishment?

 

[ClintEastwould]

The world has gone mad.

Not really. Guy spends a bit of time on the bench because he made some racist comments. Maybe he, and other players, will think twice about outing themselves as racists or exhibiting racist behavior in the future.

 

[rossdapep]

Not really. Guy spends a bit of time on the bench because he made some racist comments. Maybe he, and other players, will think twice about outing themselves as racists or exhibiting racist behavior in the future.

It was homophobic comments and I do agree that football should take extra measures to punish players who commit these offences, but what about Vardy? He was caught on video with racist comments, yet nothing was done and he was able to greatly contribute to Leicester's title win. I'll ignore the fact that his goals helped ensure Leicester won the league and were detriment to our chances because the thing that I was most pissed about was hearing little kids talk about Vardy as if he was some shining role model and listen to the likes of Gary Lineker put him on a pedestal week in week out, he shouldn't have been given that opportunity.

Now that they decide to punish players about inappropriate comments made on social media from four years ago leaves a bad taste as it's clear to me that they pick and choose ppl to make an example out of.

 

[Amo]

Very bad decision, in my opinion. But the best thing for him to do now is to accept the punishment and show how he understands it. That sets the right example.

 

[easley91]

I bet you could go through a ton of twitter timelines and find comments everyone regrets. How old is he now? And it was 4 years ago? A lot of growing up can be done in that time. I know I wasn't the person I am now 4 years ago.

People just like to dig up old skeletons for celebrities and sportsmen to make an example of. Bet he forgot about those remarks until now.

 

[Spurger King]

It was a horrible comment, but people do change a lot in four years, especially when you're young.

Not being an apologist. For all we know he still feels that way. It just seems excessive. I guess it will take a few years for sporting institutions to catch up with contemporary media.

 

[Navin R Johnson]

I'm fecking raging. Absolutely without a shadow of a doubt he was a cock. But if he was still playing for Hinckley would they be imposing a fine of that magnitude? Of course not.

Fines should be impact rather than financially based. Ban him for 4, 8, 10 games, take your pick, more if you think that's required, but the second you introduce money into the equation it's not about punishment, it's about snouts in the trough and a nice little bit of bunson bearner for the football authorities. I don't believe for a second that any of the money will filter down to grass roots.

All fines do is legitimise poor behaviour for a fee. To fine somebody £25K just because you can for a fine which would be a hundred pounds or so in a court of law is obscene. These snivelling bastards wouldn't have chased him, let alone fine him in his previous life had he not cracked it, it's greed and opportunism dressed up as righteous indignation.

There's just causes and there's cash cows to be milked, not much chance of the authorities doing the right thing when there's a nice little drink to be had.

 

[Rocksuperstar]

Absurd. So this just about confirms that the red top rags are dictating what the FA does, making sure everyone knows that even if you do make the effort to turn your life around and succeed, you must forever be held accountable.

Things i'm curious about:

The FA don't employ him, he didn't post the tweet as a representative of his non-league club, it was his personal account, so where do they get the authority to get involved?

As far as i understand it, when being charged with even a recently historical crime, you should also consider the circumstances at the time and punishment should also be delivered accordingly. I would suggest that the guy was earning no more than a few hundred a week at the time he posted that, maybe a couple of thousand if he was lucky - a £25k fine would've been unimaginable. It's not his fault that the FA didn't investigate, for whatever reason, until now - they had been perfectly able to have done it at any point between then and now, but this punishment is clearly based on his current situation. That's not fair.

 

[Mr.D]

Not really. Guy spends a bit of time on the bench because he made some racist comments. Maybe he, and other players, will think twice about outing themselves as racists or exhibiting racist behavior in the future.

My arse.
Young kid tweets shit four years ago. Big fucking deal.

 

[Mr.D]

I'm fecking raging. Absolutely without a shadow of a doubt he was a cock. But if he was still playing for Hinckley would they be imposing a fine of that magnitude? Of course not.

Fines should be impact rather than financially based. Ban him for 4, 8, 10 games, take your pick, more if you think that's required, but the second you introduce money into the equation it's not about punishment, it's about snouts in the trough and a nice little bit of bunson bearner for the football authorities. I don't believe for a second that will filter down to grass roots.

All fines do is legitimise poor behaviour for a fee. To fine somebody £25K just because you can for a fine which would be a hundred pounds or so in a court of law is obscene. These snivelling bastards wouldn't have chased him, let alone fine him in his previous life if he hadn't of cracked it, it's greed and opportunism dressed up as righteous indignation.

There's just causes and there's cash cows to be milked, not much chance of the authorities doing the right thing when there's a nice little drink to be had.

You were doing so well.

 

[Danners9]

Seems strange that they can go back 4yrs to punish him. If they were going to punish him, it should have been at the time, as he has since disowned the comments and stated he is a different person now, regrets it etc... ah, but he was non-league then, so no one cares, right?

His public apology should be enough, perhaps coupled with some sensitivity courses. A fine and a ban? come on.

'He's only sorry he got caught' - well he wasn't 'caught', some dickhead Liverpool fan went through his twitter after Burnley beat them and RTd it. Then it became trial by tabloid, with the authorities tripping over themselves to appear sensitive. Most likely he didn't even know the post existed anymore.

'How do we know he doesn't still feel that way' - well, we don't. All we have to go on is the original post and then the apology. And that should be enough.

I'd like to know how they came to this conclusion. As mentioned, there are other players out there saying and doing things here and now and not getting the same level of punishment yet here's someone being punished for a thing he posted 4yrs ago. Seems a bit unfair. Dangerous precedent.

*goes off to trawl Jack Wilshere's twitter from 2012....*

 

[yankspurs]

Not really. Guy spends a bit of time on the bench because he made some racist comments. Maybe he, and other players, will think twice about outing themselves as racists or exhibiting racist behavior in the future.

It was a comment in 2012 while he wasbt even in the fucking football league. God damn, world attitudes have drastically shifted since the time. And there is something called statute of limitations in society to stop frivolous shit like this emerging from something that happened years ago. Time to catch up, England. Also, is there no freedom of speech in England? Punishing him for this is equally disgusting and would be completely unconstitutional in the States. When your punishing someone for something that is okay in the states, you've got a severe problem. Liverpool fans are the fucking worst non criminal people on earth(outside of penn state fans and alumnus)

 

[Armstrong_11]

Damn... Need to watch what watch I say on line...

Might come back to haunt me when I run for president, king, dictator etc.

There has to be a statue if limitations on how long stuff ️We say can be held accountable for. With the stuff kids say on FB and twitter everyday... Our future is screwed.

 

[glospur]

It was a comment in 2012 while he wasbt even in the fucking football league. God damn, world attitudes have drastically shifted since the time. And there is something called statute of limitations in society to stop frivolous shit like this emerging from something that happened years ago. Time to catch up, England. Also, is there no freedom of speech in England? Punishing him for this is equally disgusting and would be completely unconstitutional in the States. When your punishing someone for something that is okay in the states, you've got a severe problem. Liverpool fans are the fucking worst non criminal people on earth(outside of penn state fans and alumnus)

Yes there is, otherwise he wouldn't have the forum to be able to express the statement that he did or he would have received a much harsher, legal punishment.

Not directing this at you in particular, but this argument is such a load of shit. Freedom of Speech isn't just the ability to say whatever the fuck you want without expecting a reply or punishment if what you says breaks any laws or rules. The whole point of it as a freedom was to allow expression of opinions, within the framework of the rules of the land and with the expectation that people have the right to reply.

What he tweeted was not an opinion. It was a vicious statement against a certain section of the community based on their sexual preference. There's a difference between the freedom to express an opinion that he doesn't agree with marriage equality and the freedom to say that he thinks gay people should burn because of their life choices.

In saying all that, I don't agree with the punishment. It was said a long time ago, he's demonstrated contrition and he may not have even been under the jurisdiction of the Football League as he was a non-league player at the time.

 

[mill]

It was a comment in 2012 while he wasbt even in the fucking football league. God damn, world attitudes have drastically shifted since the time. And there is something called statute of limitations in society to stop frivolous shit like this emerging from something that happened years ago. Time to catch up, England. Also, is there no freedom of speech in England? Punishing him for this is equally disgusting and would be completely unconstitutional in the States. When your punishing someone for something that is okay in the states, you've got a severe problem. Liverpool fans are the fucking worst non criminal people on earth(outside of penn state fans and alumnus)

1. Punishing people for owning guns isn't a severe problem.

2. Everyone from Liverpool is a criminal

 

[Japhet]

Absurd. So this just about confirms that the red top rags are dictating what the FA does, making sure everyone knows that even if you do make the effort to turn your life around and succeed, you must forever be held accountable.

Things i'm curious about:

The FA don't employ him, he didn't post the tweet as a representative of his non-league club, it was his personal account, so where do they get the authority to get involved?

As far as i understand it, when being charged with even a recently historical crime, you should also consider the circumstances at the time and punishment should also be delivered accordingly. I would suggest that the guy was earning no more than a few hundred a week at the time he posted that, maybe a couple of thousand if he was lucky - a £25k fine would've been unimaginable. It's not his fault that the FA didn't investigate, for whatever reason, until now - they had been perfectly able to have done it at any point between then and now, but this punishment is clearly based on his current situation. That's not fair.

The game is full of wealthy, greedy people so it's no surprise that the governing bodies are greedy as well. The FIFA corruption scandal has identified the very top people in the game helping themselves and snouting down in the trough. Heavy fines are OK with me when massively overpaid players overstep the mark. What I'm not OK with though is injustice. If Gray is guilty, so is Vardy but the FA don't have the balls for it because Vardy is part of the EPL Champions team - the FA's Champions. Punishing Gray and ignoring Vardy shows how spineless they are. Homophobia and racism are equally intolerable but if they didn't have the balls to punish Vardy they should have ignored Gray as well, especially for something that he said as a kid 4 years previously when he wasn't even in the League.

 

[Navin R Johnson]

You were doing so well.

Sorted it I think, run your eye over it again and let me know if it's okay. I'm blaming the cider in this particular instance.

 

[dontcallme]

Feel this is really harsh and sets a bad precedent.