Tom Pope banned for six matches and fined £3,500 by FA for alleged anti-semitic Twitter post after he watched hundreds of conspiracy theory videos about 9/11 attacks… but Port Vale confirm intention to appeal verdict
Port Vale striker Tom Pope has been handed a six-match ban by the Football Association for a Twitter post which was adjudged to be anti-semitic after he watched hundreds of conspiracy theory videos about the 9/11 attacks.
The 34-year-old has also been fined £3,500 and told to complete an education course after being found guilty of an ‘aggravated’ breach of the FA’s regulation on abusive speech.
The post appeared after an FA Cup fourth-round defeat by Manchester City.
The player was asked on Twitter to ‘predict the WWIII result’ after scoring in his side’s 4-1 FA Cup defeat to Manchester City in January.
His reply, which was later deleted, read: ‘We invade Iran then Cuba then North Korea then the Rothchilds (sic) are crowned champions of every bank on the planet.’
The FA charged him with an ‘aggravated breach’ of FA Rule E3, which he denied.
In its written reasons for finding against Pope, the commission observed: ‘When challenged as to the context in which he wrote [the message] and why he wrote it he explained that he had watched hundreds of conspiracy theory videos about the 9/11 attacks.
Leave a Reply