By Gareth James
Jack Simpson, the former Cardiff City defender, has been handed a six-game ban and an £8,000 fine by the FA after admitting directing a racial slur towards team-mate Rohan Luthra.
Simpson committed the offence during a pre-season tour of Portugal with Cardiff in July.
The 26-year-old was found to have breached FA rule E3.1 by using “language towards a team-mate that was abusive and/or insulting and/or improper”.
Furthermore, Simpson breached FA rule E3.2 by using language that “constitutes an aggravated breach as it included a reference – whether express or implied – to race and/or colour”.
Former Cardiff defender Jack Simpson has been fined £8k and given a 6 game ban after admitting to using racist language.
He called a teammate “a dirty p***” on a pre-season tour of Portugal.
The 26-year-old is currently a free agent after terminating his contract in August. pic.twitter.com/HnI6icP3Zl
— Second Tier podcast (@secondtierpod) November 17, 2023
Simpson’s Cardiff contract was due to run until the summer of 2024 but it was cancelled by “mutual agreement” on August 31. The defender remains a free agent.
Simpson joined the Bluebirds from Rangers in 2022, while he began his career at Bournemouth.
Luthra became the first British South Asian ever to sign a Premier League contract at Crystal Palace back in 2020, and is the only goalkeeper from Britain’s South Asian community ever to play in the Sky Bet Championship.
The six-match suspension handed to Simpson was at the lowest end of the six to 12 match sanction range available to the Independent Regulatory Commission.
The Commission noted Jack Simpson was in a relationship with his girlfriend who is of Indian heritage and that he was “clearly embarrassed and perturbed by having used the words he did in the knowledge that such insults have been used towards his girlfriend’s family in the past”.
"There's no space for racist abuse between teammates and it's reassuring to see the individual responsible being held to account for his actions."
Tony Burnett, Kick It Out CEO, on the recent six-game ban for Jack Simpson.
Read the full article here: https://t.co/P6nAhyH4s3
— Kick It Out (@kickitout) November 17, 2023
The former chair of the FA’s Race Equality Advisory Board Yunus Lunat told Sky Sports News he thought Simpson was “very fortunate” to escape with just a six-game ban, particularly as it was an entirely unprovoked incident.
Lunat added: “Rohan Luthra is the one of the highest playing role models for South Asians in English football.
“To be subjected to such language in the safe environment and company of his own colleagues can only serve to deter young players from South Asian backgrounds.”
