QPR defender Todd Kane has been handed a seven-match ban and a £6,000 fine by the Football Association after admitting to using abusive and/or insulting language in an incident involving Brentford’s Sergi Canos.
The 27-year-old committed an aggravated breach of FA Rule E3, which covers reference to nationality and/or ethnicity, during his side’s match with the Bees in February and must also attend an education session.
Kane admitted to a disciplinary panel that he said “diving, foreign *expletive*”, though insisted he said it in response to a comment by Spaniard Canos, who is alleged to have called Kane an “*expletive* ugly, English *expletive*”.
Canos denied the allegation and the FA took no further action.
A statement from QPR read: “The club want to make it clear that there is no justification for insults pertaining to someone else’s nationality.
“Todd knows this falls below the standards he sets for himself as well as the standards we set for our employees and is against the inclusive nature of the club.
“In addition to the sanctions by the FA, Todd, who has shown remorse throughout, will be subject to internal disciplinary procedures.
“In mitigation, both Todd and Rob Dickie, who witnessed the incident, have consistently testified that Todd’s comment was in response to an opposition player using similar language about Todd’s nationality.
“Todd admitted using the wording ‘diving, foreign *expletive*’ in response to being called an ‘*expletive* ugly, English *expletive*’.
“The opposition player admitted using abusive language but denied referencing Todd’s nationality. This was accepted by the FA and no further action was taken against him.
“As a club we were surprised to learn the individual views of one opposition player have been believed by the FA while the views of two of our players were rejected, particularly given that both were praised by investigators for their forthright testimony.
“Nevertheless, referring to anyone’s nationality is not acceptable and the club and Todd apologise unreservedly to the player involved and to others for whom this incident has caused offence.
“We would appeal to supporters of both clubs involved to consider how they comment on this on social media, particularly towards any of the players involved. This is an issue that has caused a lot of distress for all parties.
“Queens Park Rangers Football Club condemns all forms of discrimination and has been at the forefront of working to tackle this issue, in both our recruitment across all levels of the club and our action in the local community.”
