West Ham midfielder Robert Snodgrass swore at anti-doping officials before allegedly claiming it might have been Andy Carroll because of his northern accent.
Snodgrass was fined £30,000 and given a one-match ban after being charged by the FA for making an improper comment to a drug tester in February.
The 31-year-old denies making the comment but an independent disciplinary panel concluded he did on “the balance of probability”. West Ham decided not to appeal after reluctantly accepting the outcome. Snodgrass maintains he did not use any foul language.
In written reasons published by the FA, it has been revealed Snodgrass was accused by two officials of asking, “Have you c**** got nothing better to do?”.
Snodgrass’ initial response to being accused was to think the accusation was a joke and he said, “How do you know it wasn’t Andy?”.
In a letter to the disciplinary panel, Snodgrass said: “I did not make any comment whatsoever about or directed towards the doping control personnel. I acknowledge that as a Scotsman, my accent can sometimes be difficult for people to understand.
“I also speak quite quickly so it is possible that the doping control personnel picked up wrongly what was being said amongst the players in the corridor, as it was particularly noisy. I sincerely believe that there has been a misunderstanding as I would never speak in such manner to doping control personnel.”
West Ham captain Mark Noble supported Snodgrass. In a letter to the disciplinary panel, Noble said: “I was very surprised as I believe Robert did not say this.
"I was with Robert as we entered the corridor where the alleged comment was said to be made. It was very noisy and boisterous, as all of the squad were entering this area together, talking and joking amongst ourselves. We saw doping control personnel in the corridor outside of the meeting room, however, I confirm that I did not hear Robert make the comment attributed to him.”
