Newcastle United midfielder Jonjo Shelvey has picked up a hefty five-game ban from the FA after he was found guilty of racially abusing Wolves’ Moroccan midfielder Romain Saiss during a Championship clash back in September.
The incident occurred near the end of the Magpies’ 2-0 defeat to Wolves at St. James’ Park on September 17th. After the game, a team-mate of Saiss spoke to the referee Tim Robinson about the matter, which ultimately led to an independent panel investigating Shelvey’s behaviour.
The issue, according to the FA’s charge against Shelvey, related to Rule E3(1), and was an “Aggravated Breach as defined in Rule E3(2), as it included reference to ethnic origin and/or race and/or nationality”.
According to the Daily Mail, Shelvey called Saiss a “smelly arab”. Saiss was born and raised in France, though has roots in the Atlas region of Morocco, where precisely nobody speaks Arabic.
As well as copping a five-game ban, former Liverpool midfielder Shelvey has also been handed a £100,000 fine and has been ordered to attend an FA education course.
The 24-year-old now has seven days to appeal while Newcastle United themselves are waiting to see the FA’s written explanation before commenting further on the matter.
All very pathetic, really.