Man. United Player Fined £15,000 for Homophobic Tweet

Manchester United’s Federico Macheda has been fined £15,000 by the Football Association (FA) for making a homophobic comment on social media site Twitter.

Macheda, 20, admitted to ‘using abusive and/or insulting words’ on Twitter at a personal hearing this week.

The player, currently on loan to Queens Park Rangers, became involved in an on-line argument with a fellow Twitter user and wrote, among other comments, ‘shhhhhhh you stupid little gay!’ The tweets have since been deleted.

Macheda has also been warned by the FA about his future conduct.

Macheda is believed to be appealing the fine. This is the heaviest punishment ever given by the FA for a homophobic slur.

Two other footballers were also charged for anti-gay conduct this week. They include Newcastle forward Nile Ranger and Walsall’s Manny Smith. They were ordered to pay £6,000 and £1,200 respectively. West Ham’s Ravel Morrison and ex-Leicester player Michael Ball have both recently been fined for similar slurs as part of a new crackdown by the FA.

The FA has warned players that comments made on Twitter or other social networking sites which make “reference to a person’s ethnic origin, colour, race, nationality, faith, gender, sexual orientation or disability” could be subject to “a higher disciplinary sanction.”