Football Association extends bans for discrimination to minimum of 10 games
The English Football Association (FA) has introduced new guidelines that extend the minimum suspension for “aggravated breaches” to at least 10 games.
An aggravated breach refers to “any misconduct that includes an express or implied reference to any one or more of the following characteristics: ethnic origin, colour, race, nationality, religion or belief, sex, gender, gender reassignment, sexual orientation, or disability.”
The FA previously recommended bans of between six and 12 matches to independent regulatory commissions, who would then impose the suspension.
In a statement on their website, the FA said: “We are committed to delivering a game free from discrimination. While significant progress has been made in recent years, discriminatory conduct continues to be a challenge across the game.
“Enhanced measures are necessary to tackle this abhorrent conduct, and our updated sanction guidelines will now require Regulatory Commissions to impose a standard suspension of at least 10 matches in these circumstances.”
Bans can exceed 10 games if there are “significant aggravating factors present”. There is also scope for an individual to be banned for less than 10 matches if “mitigating factors of a significant number or weight” are present and the player admits the breach at the “earliest reasonable available opportunity”, though the ban can be reduced by no more than four games.
If the breach has a mitigating factor and takes place “in writing only or via any communication device”, a suspension can be reduced further, with a minimum ban of three games.
Individuals found to have committed aggravated breaches on multiple occasions can be banned for more than 12 games or face time-based suspensions
In the 2024-25 season, Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur was banned for seven games after being found to have committed an aggravated breach in comments he made about then-club captain Son Heung-min.
Appearing on Uruguayan television show Por la Camiseta, Bentancur said of the South Korea captain: “Sonny, or one of Sonny’s cousins, as they all look more or less the same.”
Bentancur apologised to Son directly and on social media, describing it as a “a joke in bad taste”, while Spurs said they would provide “further education for all players in line with our diversity, equality and inclusion objectives.
“We fully support that our captain Sonny feels that he can draw a line under the incident,” they added, before Bentancur was charged by the FA.
In December 2020, former Manchester United forward Edinson Cavani pleaded guilty to an FA charge and was fined £100,000 and banned for three games for using an offensive Spanish phrase on social media.
The changes to the guidelines come after British anti-discrimination charity Kick It Out said it received a record number of reports across English football in the 2025-26 season. Across the professional game, grassroots football and online spaces, the charity received 1,744 reports.