A Tranmere Rovers player has received a record ban for a homophobia slur.
Sam Finley was charged after referring to Walsall’s Jamille Matt as a ‘faggot’ during his side’s League Two defeat at the Bescot Stadium on January 11 this year.
The midfielder had been sent off in the 38th minute of the game, which ended in a 5-1 defeat, after picking up two bookings for incidents unrelated to the slur.
But Finley was handed a 13-game suspension on Friday in addition to a £2,000 fine and being ordered to attend a mandatory education programme for the offence.
The ruling is the highest-ever sanction for a charge of this nature as the Football Association increased the punishment from the standard 12-match guidelines.
Finley previously served a four-game ban in 2016 while playing for AFC Fylde after making a similarly homophobic comment towards a referee in February of that year.
Tranmere responded to Friday’s ruling by claiming it ‘condemns all form of discrimination’ and will deal wth the 32-year-old ‘internally’.