Football news - FA rejects Leeds' Kiko Casilla claim he was 'unaware' racist term existed

ByReuters

Updated 04/03/2020 at 10:34 GMT

The FA have released their written reasons regarding Kiko Casilla’s eight-game ban for racially abusing Charlton forward Jonathan Leko, stating that they rejected his claim that he was unaware of the racist term he was found guilty of using.

Kiko Casilla, del Real Madrid, en el partido ante el Tottenham

Image credit: Getty Images

The Leeds keeper was banned for eight matches and fined £60,000 after being found guilty of racist abuse in a Championship match against Charlton Athletic last September.

Casilla had denied using racially abusive or insulting words, claiming that he was "unaware of the existence" of the racist word he was charged with and found guilty of using. The BBC reported that Casilla claimed he was only made aware of the "existence and meaning" of the word when interviewed about he incident.

The FA, however, said that it was "satisfied on the balance of probabilities that the event in question occurred" but added that Casilla was "not a racist".

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The FA found that the keeper had directed the N-word at Charlton forward Jonathan Leko.

Leeds acknowledged the decision in a statement but observed that the FA panel "have based their decision on the balance of probability rather than proving Kiko to be guilty beyond reasonable doubt."

The Spaniard said in a statement on social media when he was found guilty that he was "sad and devastated" at being accused and believed firmly that racism should not be tolerated in any walk of life.

"I do not feel at all that the guilty verdict is a clear reflection of the incident," he said.

"I am sure that my family, friends, colleagues and the different technical teams who I have been working with for all these years in my professional career know I would never use my words with a racist meaning," he added.

"My respectful behaviour towards my opponents since I started my career has been honest and with the maximum sense of fairplay."

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