FA criticises findings of its own independent panel in John Yems investigation

The English Football Association has criticised the findings of its own independent panel, which concluded former Crawley manager John Yems was "not a conscious racist", as Kick It Out labelled his 15-month ban from the game a "slap in the face" to his victims.

Yems admitted to one charge and was found guilty of 11 others relating to comments that referenced either ethnic origin, colour, race, nationality, religion, belief or gender between 2019 and 2022.

An independent regulatory commission found four others to be unproven, with the 63-year-old earlier this month banned from all football-related activity up to and including 1 June, 2024.

The written reasons for Yems' sanctions were published on Tuesday, which indicated the FA pushed for a two-year suspension, but the independent panel sided with Yems' solicitors, who argued he was not a racist and neither did he "ever intend to make racist remarks".

In response on Wednesday, the FA stressed it "fundamentally disagreed" with the panel's findings, again re-iterating the governing body's push for a lengthier sanction.

A statement read: "The FA brought 16 charges of discrimination against John Yems. The independent regulatory commission decided on an 18-month ban for the 12 charges which it upheld or was admitted. We had requested a longer ban.

"Based on the evidence presented to the commission, we fundamentally disagree with the independent panel's finding that this was not a case of conscious racism."

"To speak plainly, a 15-month ban given the severity of the 11 proven charges is a slap in the face to the victims of the discriminatory abuse detailed in this report and anyone who has been subject to racism or Islamophobia."

A number of players from the League Two club took