FA push for John Yems ban to be extended to two years

The Football Association has appealed against the ban imposed on former Crawley boss John Yems.

An independent regulatory panel banned Yems until June 2024 after he admitted 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.

The FA had been pushing for a two-year ban, and said last week it "fundamentally disagreed" with the panel's findings that this was not a case of "conscious racism".

FA chief executive Mark Bullingham revealed on Wednesday his organisation was exploring its legal options and the governing body has now confirmed an appeal.

"We are appealing against the sanction imposed by the independent panel on John Yems," an FA statement said.

"We believe a longer sanction is appropriate. We are unable to comment further until the appeal is complete."