Peterborough co-owner gives response on FA punishing player for old tweets

Peterborough United co-owner Darragh MacAnthony gives a hinted response on the FA punishing one of his club’s player for old tweets.

Jonson Clarke-Harris has been given a four game ban by the Football Association because of his historic posts, something he published roughly 9 years ago.

He has also been fined £5300 and is required to complete a face-to-face education programme.

A statement from the FA said: “Peterborough United FC’s Jonson Clarke-Harris has been suspended for four matches, fined £5,300 and is required to complete a face-to-face education programme after admitting six breaches of FA Rule E3 in relation to social media comments posted between 27 October 2012 and 6 March 2013.

“The comments were insulting, abusive, improper and brought the game into disrepute contrary to FA Rule E3.1. The comments also constitute an “aggravated breach”, which is defined in FA Rule E3.2, as they included reference to sexual orientation.”

The ban takes place with immediate effect and he is now set to miss the Championship clash with Coventry City on Friday night. He will also be suspended for the home fixtures with Bristol City and Bournemouth and the away meeting with Middlesbrough before returning for the away trip to Hull City on the 20th of October.

The tweets are believed to have been resurfaced shortly after Posh won promotion in May but were sent between October 2012 and March 2013 when Clarke-Harris was 18-years-old and in his first spell at Posh.

Sammie Szmodics is expected to replace Clarke-Harris in the line-up against Coventry.

In August, MacAnthony made a brief comment on social media in response to the charges.

He said: “Somebody, just after we won promotion, spent hours going through a then 18 year-olds’ tweets to find stuff and then reported him. World we live in nowadays. More on this nearer time of hearing etc. Cheers.”

And since the punishment was confirmed, he retweeted a fan’s post, seemingly in agreement with what was said.

@mickbcfc1975 wrote in reply to the BBC over the story: “absolutely pathetic!! why are they punishing players for stuff from 10 years ago!!! absolute madness? @DMAC102 I would ask your thoughts but I already know from the Pod.”

After the Peterborough co-owner gives a response on the FA punishing the player for his old tweets, of course Twitter users hit out at the decision…

@mikesmith1987: i’m going to hell for the things i said as a 18 year old, to ban a 28 year old bloke for something he ‘said’ 8,9,10 ago is thr woke society gone absolutely mad

@reidybafc: Good that something is being done about such comments in this era but to punish such comments historically is farcical. Why wasn’t it done at the time, simple, because its the useless FA ticking boxes. Awareness course is suitable for all, to be fined and banned is ridiculous.

@rogerthedodge2: As a Cov fan that’s a total joke punished for something nearly a decade ago 🤷🏼‍♂️

@harras31: Absolute nonsense, world’s going mad.

@GregNic1: You’re actually embarrassing

@andybell888: How ridiculous is this. Comments made nearly 10 years ago subject to punishment now. The world is going crazy.

@emmaverde9: In what job can you be punished for something you did 10 years ago when you were 18. What a joke and an embarrassment the FA is.

@Wagss5: Will the fa now search all players social media accounts and deliver the same punishment?? What a shit show punishing him 8/9 year after a tweet

@brummie_69: So what your saying is every play needs to delete there social media accounts just so no1 sits there going threw every tweet and gets them fined for no fucking reason!

@Carl73Mariner: The same FA sending an England team to Qatar 🙄

@COYSTUBS: Pathetic, ridiculous, nonsense! You clowns should be embarrassed. This social media archeology must stop. And, do you know what, if someone is offended, tough!

@Oliverharniess: Absolute bunch of jobsworths got nothing better to do than dig through someone’s twitter account from 10 YEARS ago!!! Pathetic 😡. Why does our glorious game have to be run by a bunch of clueless idiots

@theoriginalalx: He’s one of the nicest blokes around, and digging up his past is pathetic, we all make mistakes when younger we live and learn from them there and then.

@AngrySpectator: Imagine your boss approaching you at work and saying, “you owe us 5grand because you made some dodgy tweets 10 years ago”. I don’t care how much footballers get paid, the FA are a fucking mafia 🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️

@N_Damms: Don’t know what’s worse, the fact he’s been punished for it after all this time or the fact that some sad act has the time and patience to trawl through almost 10 years worth of his social media posts to find the offensive posts and report him…

@damocurtis: joke that. people punishing him prob have worse history on social media or they that old never been on fb or twitter.

@jasonowalton: Nobody is perfect. Viewpoints change with time. Why punish people for yesterday’s mistakes, using today’s values as the measure? Time to cancel the FA, before they start digging up failed attempts to calculate Pi to 16 d.p. & issue players 4 game bans for poor schoolwork aged 14

@siprior: Absolutely scandalous. How many players have posted stuff on social media in the last 10 years that they shouldn’t have? He was 18 at the time, how many of us made mistakes at 18 but learned from it at the time and have changed our ways?

@GascoyneDr: I said similar he was 18 and even on this short time attitudes have altered. They put films in saying “this film shows attitudes of the time and may offend” an 18 year old lad, years ago said something he shouldn’t have. Now the whole world is landing on him. Wish I was perfect!

@alights98: Who does this benefit? Apart from the @FA who are now £5k richer. Hopefully gets reinvested properly. Honestly, though who finds these tweets from nearly 10 years ago! Feel sorry for @ClarkeHarris and @theposh, why the 4 match ban when a fine/lecture would have been sufficient.

@E_Sure91: Once again a decision like this causes more damage than good. People must be held accountable for things they say and do but a ban, 9 years later isn’t going to solve problems. I also hope that JCH wouldn’t say whatever he said then in the present time and that is crucial.

@southsidetips: Pathetic from the fa, was fucking years ago when he was a kid, the most annoying thing is these ridiculous sanctions won’t even make any difference to the toxic homophobia in football

@BaldEagle877: Gets a 4 game ban for a tweet 9 years ago but Hungary get a 2 game ban for racism 1 month ago. This is why football is screwed under the FA

@bhreading: Further 4 match ban for leaving his bedroom messy as a 7 y/o and for handing in craft homework late at primary school.

@capfc11: Four game ban is ridiculous, you could understand if it was last week but it’s 9yrs ago so shouldn’t be charged based on todays feelings. Rightly or wrongly in that time you could get away with saying things that nowadays you can’t as things have changed a hell of a lot since 2012

@b3nsterb3n: It’s odd that we punish footballers for being idiots in their youth but vote for politicians being idiots in their prime.

@ObiwanWinton: So according to the world now nobodys able to change for the better.

@StuartA15613018: Don’t get why people have to suffer over something wrote years ago!!!

@28DRM: People views and opinions change, as does their understanding of the way the world works, 12/13 majority of people still didn’t really understand LGBT+ and a lot didn’t accept it, 2021 we’re in a much different place when it comes to acceptance and understanding.

18 year old says stuff on twitter years ago – 4 game ban

WBA players assault a Peterborough steward
last month – Zero, nil, nothing, ignored. Despite being informed multiple times and it being in the media.

You stink of rancid hypocrisy. pic.twitter.com/jPMJRrau50

— Bertrand Russell. Peterborough’s greatest son (@Mirrorman73) September 23, 2021