PHIL NEVILLE will not be charged by the Football Association over his social media remarks mocking women.
FA chief executive Martin Glenn said Neville’s tweets do not “meet the threshold for issuing a charge”.
Neville has since apologised for the posts, which included one where he joked about having “battered” his wife.
And the former Manchester United star said the messages do not reflect his “character or beliefs”.
Neville said: “Following comments made a number of years ago I would like to clarify that they were not and are not a true and genuine reflection of either my character or beliefs, and would like to apologise.
“I am fully aware of my responsibilities as the England Women’s Head Coach and am immensely proud and honoured to have been given the role.
“I am now looking forward to the future and will work tirelessly to try and help bring success to the team.”
Neville was yesterday appointed as the new Lionesses manager and immediately came in for criticism for old social media posts appearing to mock females.
THIS IS BAD New England women’s boss Phil Neville deletes Twitter account for ‘sexist’rant
But the FA have been relaxed about the storm that has blown up, content that the former Manchester United and England star was simply making a series of jokes.
Yet now they are under mounting pressure to address the situation after anti-discrimination group Kick It Out called for Neville to face disciplinary action.
A statement from their CEO Roisin Wood said: “In light of recent action taken in response to historical social media comments made by current football participants, the question must now be asked – will the FA be charging Neville for posting discriminatory comments on social media?”
And SunSport understands they now want Lionesses veterans Rachel Yankey and Casey Stoney to form part of his coaching team with the national squad.
FA bosses believe Neville is the right man to help turn England into world champions, but they want Yankey and Stoney to be groomed to be his eventual successors.
No sooner had the 41-year-old been confirmed in his job he immediately came under fire for a series of posts he made on his now deleted Twitter account.
In July 2011 he wrote: “Relaxe I’m back chilled – just battered the wife!!! Feel better now!”
And a year later he tweeted: “Morning men couple of hours cricket be4 work sets me up nicely for the day!”
Most read in football
When asked why he failed to mention women, he replied: “When I said morning men I thought the women would of been busy preparing breakfast/getting kids ready/making the beds – sorry morning women!”
And later in 2012 he posted: “U women of always wanted equality until it comes to paying the bills #hypocrites.”
The re-emergence of those old posts led to a huge social media storm surrounding his appointment. with some labelling it as an insult to women’s football.
But FA bosses are comfortable with the situation having been made fully aware of the tweets when making background checks during the interview process.
They are understood to view them as clear jokes, which were taken as such at the time but have now taken on a different context following his appointment.
The fact Neville has been dropped into the top job with no experience of working in the women’s game has also come in for criticism, claiming it is denying females an opportunity.
Sue Campbell, who led the interview and appointment process, is understood to believe he was the outstanding candidate for the role at this time.
But the FA are anxious to put a pathway in place to ensure a woman is the best option next time, and are already in talks with Stoney and Yankey about being part of the Lionesses backroom team.
Liverpool defender Stoney led much of the coaching the national team squad had during their warm-weather training trip to Spain this week.
And the 35-year-old is now considering an offer to take up a coaching role full-time under Neville.
Yankey holds the record for the highest number of England appearances by a player across all national team sides having played 129 games for her country.
She has also been earmarked to be fast-tracked into the FA coaching programme, and is seen as the ideal person to joining the Lionesses coaching team.
Leave a comment