FA appeals 18-month ban from football imposed on former Crawley manager John Yems for multiple breaches of the Football Association's rule relating to discriminatory comments; Warning: The below copy contains language of a racist and discriminatory nature
Monday 23 January 2023 13:21, UK
The Football Association has appealed against the 18-month ban from football imposed on former Crawley Town 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".
Kick It Out said it was "very hard to understand" the panel's findings, while Tony Burnett, the organisation's chief executive, described them as "utterly bizarre".
FA chief executive Mark Bullingham revealed on Wednesday his organisation was exploring its legal options and the governing body has now confirmed an appeal.
In a statement, the FA said: "We are appealing against the sanction imposed by the independent panel on John Yems.
"We believe a longer sanction is appropriate. We are unable to comment further until the appeal is complete."
The investigation into Yems began when a number of players from the Sky Bet League Two club took their grievances to the Professional Footballers' Association.
Yems was banned from football for 18 months, which is believed to be the longest punishment ever meted out for the use of discriminatory language, after the panel decided his words were "offensive, racist and Islamophobic".
The panel concluded that Yems:
Four allegations were dismissed, including claims that he segregated Crawley players and based his team selections on race.
The panel agreed with Yems' solicitors that their client was not a racist and neither did he "ever intend to make racist remarks", adding in their findings: "We regard this as an extremely serious case.
"We have accepted that Mr Yems is not a conscious racist. If he were, an extremely lengthy, even permanent, suspension would be appropriate.
"Nevertheless, Mr Yems' 'banter' undoubtedly came across to the victims and others as offensive, racist and Islamophobic. Mr Yems simply paid no regard to the distress which his misplaced jocularity was causing."
The FA was unhappy that the panel chose, in its judgement, to question whether Yems is a "racist", when the panel's job was in fact to assess whether racist language had been used.
The panel consisted of black former footballer Tony Agana, experienced lawyer Robert Englehart KC, and Wolves club secretary Matt Wild.
Sky Sports News spoke to Yems after the original decision, and he remained adamant he is not racist and points to the words of the independent panel which stated he "is not a conscious racist".
Yems admitted that, at the age of 63, he is lacking education and used outdated language.
The PFA's senior EDI education executive Jason Lee welcomed the FA's decision to appeal and added: "(The panel)'s full written reasons, which were published last week, essentially excuse behaviour and language which has resulted in 11 charges of discriminatory behaviour being upheld and a ban being given.
"We believe there was no need for the commission to assess his language and his behaviour in this way beyond deciding whether it was discriminatory. They clearly found that it was but, in going beyond that in their written reasons, they have offered a justification that is wholly unnecessary and, in our view, completely without merit.
"In doing so they have caused anger and upset to many, including those who came forward to the PFA to ensure that John Yems was held to account. Every individual is responsible for the impact of their words and their behaviour. There should be no excuses made.
"As their union, the PFA will be continuing to support the players involved moving forward."
Tony Burnett, the chief executive of Kick It Out, had said it was "utterly bizarre" that the panel concluded that Yems was not a "conscious racist" despite revealing a string of offensive racial remarks made by the former Crawley manager.
Burnett told Sky Sports News: "I don't know John Yems, but unless the FA are channelling some sort of superpower that I'm not aware of, they have no jurisdiction and they're actually not qualified to assess whether any individual is a racist or not.
"How you can reach a conclusion like that in a case like this is completely beyond me.
"What this says to me in the way this report is structured is that football has a problem with behaviours. Football has a problem in establishing what is appropriate and inappropriate behaviour, really defining it and really embedding it in the game."
Yems was initially charged after Crawley players took their complaints to the Professional Footballers' Association, and Burnett said: "What the PFA have done in supporting these players, and for the players to come forward, is a landmark and it's a turning point for football.
"But we have to take this turning point really seriously and use it as a baseline to drive appropriate behaviours across the game of football."
Burnett also called the length of Yems' suspension into question and asked whether the punishment would have been as lenient in another industry, saying: "If you look at the seriousness of some of these comments, I've never heard this level of serious, so-called banter. They're just offensive and disgusting remarks made in a workplace environment.
"I've been involved in this industry for 25 years. In any other walk of life, this would be instant dismissal, but in football - for some reason - we have a different standard for this set of behaviours and we're trying to interpret whether an individual is racist. I find that completely and utterly bizarre.
"I think the facts are the facts, and the facts we've established are that a number of really offensive comments were made to Crawley employees by a senior person in an organisation, and we cannot determine whether that individual is not racist.
"I'm not making that assertion at all, but I certainly know the FA panel haven't got the power or the insight to determine that either.
"What we can say is the behaviour is appalling and it needs to be dealt with. I'm not sure a suspension until June 2024 is an appropriate sanction for what I'm reading here."
Kick It Out had said it was "very hard to understand" how the FA's independent panel had concluded that Yems was not a conscious racist, adding it would be in touch with the governing body over the issue.
Its statement read: "The discriminatory language outlined in the FA independent report is simply shocking.
"Given the seriousness of the incidents detailed, it is very hard to understand how the FA independent panel have concluded that 'Mr Yems is not a conscious racist'. We do not share that viewpoint.
"The behaviour outlined in the report must be called out for exactly what it is: racism and Islamophobia.
"To speak plainly, a ban until June 2024 - 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.
"Furthermore, to reduce his prolonged string of offensive, Islamophobic and racist remarks to simply being 'misplaced jocularity' shows a total lack of understanding about the damage that this language can cause or the power dynamics that exist in the game.
"This decision also sets a dangerous precedent by allowing perpetrators to hide behind a 'banter' defence when intentionally using harmful and discriminatory language, and we will be in touch with the FA to understand how the panel came to this conclusion.
"We applaud the courage of the victims of this case for coming forward and would encourage anyone involved in the game who sadly find themselves in similar situations to get in touch with us at Kick It Out."
Sol Bamba, the former Cardiff, Leeds and Leicester centre-back, told Sky Sports News that he was "bothered" by the panel's findings that Yems was not a "conscious racist" and that his comments could be described as "banter".
"I understand where Kick It Out is coming from because, with the FA being the guardians, you want them to have a strong response when stuff like that happens," said Bamba.
"You have to think about the victims because, when you play at that sort of level, you're worried about coming out, reporting those claims and whether that's going to affect your career. In my opinion, the FA have to do more.
"It bothered me a bit because I saw the comments he made and they were very, very bad. They were racist, in my opinion - there's no two ways about it.
"So for the FA to say there's no conscious racism doesn't sit right with me. The punishment is not good enough.
"The 'banter' word bothered me right away because everyone should know those kind of racist comments are not banter. They affect people and shouldn't be used anymore. It's as simple as that."
