Liverpool face a potential repeat of the infamous Luis Suarez race case after referee Bobby Madley’s report on a stormy Merseyside derby reached the FA with an allegation from Everton’s Mason Holgate that he was racially abused by Liverpool’s Roberto Firmino.
Madley’s report will be scrutinised by the FA’s off-pitch disciplinary department — dubbed their integrity team.
Holgate, accompanied by manager Sam Allardyce and director of football Steve Walsh, went to see Madley after Friday’s FA Cup tie at Anfield and claimed he had heard Firmino use the word ‘negro’ following a heated exchange between the pair after 41 minutes.