Liverpool's Roberto Firmino Won't Receive FA Charge for Alleged Racial Slur

The English Football Association revealed it won't take any disciplinary action against Roberto Firmino, following an investigation into allegations the Liverpool striker used a racial slur toward Everton's Mason Holgate during an FA Cup third-round tie at Anfield back in January.

An official statement on the FA's website said the governing body does not consider the evidence examined "sufficient to raise a charge against Firmino."

The statement also made clear that while no action will be taken, the FA is "completely satisfied that the allegation was made in absolute good faith by Holgate and that there is no suggestion of this being an intentionally false or malicious allegation."

Neil Jones of the Liverpool Echo relayed a statement released on Everton's official website expressing satisfaction at how the FA dealt with the allegations:

Firmino has since issued a statement via Liverpool's official website:

"Now the process is concluded, I would like to place on record, for the avoidance of any doubt, I did not say the word, or a variation of the word, that was claimed and subsequently reported in the media. I did not use any language that referenced race. I did not - and would never - reference a person’s skin colour or culture, by means of insult, during a dispute or an argument."

The former Hoffenheim striker also backed the FA's investigation, talking up the importance of football taking any allegations of racism seriously.

For their part, the FA revealed some of the processes of their investigation, including collecting statements from 12 players from both teams, along with referee Bobby Madley and the fourth official. The English football authority also said it consulted with a linguistic expert specialising in Portuguese and Brazilian dialects, per the official statement.

Rui Vieira/Associated Press

Everton defender Holgate made the allegation after the Toffees were knocked out of the Cup 2-1 on Friday, January 5 by their Merseyside rivals. An incident involving Holgate and Firmino saw the pair engage in a verbal confrontation, during which Holgate accused the Brazil international of using a racial slur.

However, Simon Mullock of the Sunday Mirror reported the paper had used lip readers to examine what Firmino may have said and "no evidence of racial abuse was found."

Both players were praised by the FA for their professional handling of the incident and the investigative process.