Leicester’s Hamza Choudhury has been charged with misconduct by the Football Association in relation to “hurtful and offensive” historical comments made on social media.
The midfielder, now 21, posted a number of racist and sexist comments on Twitter in 2013 and 2014, and in another tweet said he did not “feel sorry” for anyone who took their own life.
Choudhury apologised this week while Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers insisted his player was genuinely “remorseful”.
A statement from the FA read: “It is alleged that the comments breach FA Rule E3(1) as they were abusive and/or insulting and/or improper and/or brought the game into disrepute.
“It is further alleged that the comments constitute an ‘Aggravated Breach’, which is defined in FA Rule E3(2), as they included reference to ethnic origin and/or race and/or sexual orientation.
“The midfielder has until 13 May 2019 to provide a response.”
Choudhury, an England Under-21 international, said: “They do not represent my true beliefs.
“I’ve learned a lot as a person in my early years as a professional – certainly enough to know that some of the thoughtless comments I have made in the past are both hurtful and offensive.
“I’m deeply sorry to anyone I have offended – both at the time and since they’ve been recirculated.”
Rodgers will have no qualms about selecting Choudhury for Monday’s clash with Manchester City, after revealing the youngster pro-actively apologised off his own back for the posts.
The former Celtic manager said: “Firstly it was something that Hamza wanted to deal with. He was a 15-year-old at the time and certainly at 21 you are totally different. He was very apologetic and he wanted to put that out there.
“He’s remorseful for his comments but when you make a mistake you learn from it.”
