Assou-Ekotto gets 3 game FA ban & £50,000 fine
The FA today found Benoit Assou-Ekotto guilty after a tweeted his support of a perceived anti-Semitic gesture by then WBA striker Nicolas Anelka.
His tweet, subsequently deleted, was a somewhat insensitive thing to do given the club he is employed by and may have been him venting his anger at the club. He seems to have been in dispute with the club for some considerable time and is currently just sitting on a contract to collect a wage. After a bust-up with Andre Villas-Boas, the then head coach told him on the pre-season tour in Hong Kong before last season that he would never play for the club again.
He sent the following tweet in December of that season:
Assou-Ekotto claims the tweet was an anti-establishment one and a dedication to his friend and comedian Dieudonne M'bala M'bala. Only the Cameroon international knows whether that is the case or not.
The FA accepted Assou-Ekotto's view but found him guilty of breaching FA rules for which they banned him for three games and fined him £50,000, both of which he can appeal should he choose to do so.
The FA issued the following statement through the chairman of the Regulatory Commission, Peter Griffiths QC.
It certainly wouldn't have helped his relationship with Spurs which has completely broken down, so much so that he has not been included in the Premier League or UEFA Europa League squads, despite the club still paying his wages.
His tweet, subsequently deleted, was a somewhat insensitive thing to do given the club he is employed by and may have been him venting his anger at the club. He seems to have been in dispute with the club for some considerable time and is currently just sitting on a contract to collect a wage. After a bust-up with Andre Villas-Boas, the then head coach told him on the pre-season tour in Hong Kong before last season that he would never play for the club again.
He sent the following tweet in December of that season:
"I congratulate you on the beautiful quenelle."
Assou-Ekotto claims the tweet was an anti-establishment one and a dedication to his friend and comedian Dieudonne M'bala M'bala. Only the Cameroon international knows whether that is the case or not.
The FA accepted Assou-Ekotto's view but found him guilty of breaching FA rules for which they banned him for three games and fined him £50,000, both of which he can appeal should he choose to do so.
The FA issued the following statement through the chairman of the Regulatory Commission, Peter Griffiths QC.
"The charge was that the comment was abusive and/or indecent and/or insulting and/or improper, contrary to Rule E3(1). Further to that, the FA considered the comment to be an aggravated breach, as defined in FA Rule E3(2), in that it included a reference to ethnic origin and/or race and/or religion or belief.
"Even though we have found that there was an aggravated breach of FA Rule E3 we are satisfied that when the player sent the tweet on the December 28, 2013 congratulating Anelka, in his mind he believed he was congratulating Anelka on what he perceived to be an anti-establishment gesture as opposed to one associated with anti-Semitism.
"But we are also satisfied of two further factors relevant to his culpability:
1) That he was certainly aware before he sent the tweet that the quenelle gesture was very much associated with Dieudonne; and
2) That he had, by then, acquired at least some knowledge of the controversies surrounding Dieudonne in the autumn of 2013 and that these had included, rightly or wrongly, allegations concerning anti-Semitism."
It certainly wouldn't have helped his relationship with Spurs which has completely broken down, so much so that he has not been included in the Premier League or UEFA Europa League squads, despite the club still paying his wages.
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