Premier League player banned and fined for homophobic comments

Burnley forward

The ban starts with immediate effect and the 25-year-old has also been fined £25,000, warned as to his future conduct, and ordered to attend an FA education course.

He apologised and asked "for forgiveness" for the posts, saying he was now a "different person".

Both the club and the player have accepted the ban.

Gray's ban starts with Monday's Premier League game against Watford at Turf Moor and he will miss further fixtures against Arsenal, Everton and Southampton.

An FA statement read: "It was alleged that six postings on his Twitter account were abusive and/or insulting and/or improper and/or brought the game into disrepute contrary to Rule E3(1).

"It was further alleged that these breaches of Rule E3(1) included a reference to sexual orientation and/or gender and/or colour and/or race contrary to Rule E3(2).

"The player admitted to three of the breaches, and denied the remaining three were in breach of FA Rules.

"Following an Independent Regulatory Commission hearing yesterday [22 September 2016], the remaining three breaches were found proven."

Burnley have also released a statement, accepting the verdict and stressing that Gray regrets posting the remarks.

The tweets, which also contained offensive terms, were posted when Gray was playing for non-league Hinckley United.

They came to light on 20 August, the day he scored his first top-flight goal as he helped Burnley to a 2-0 win over Liverpool at Turf Moor.