Burnley
striker Andre Gray has requested a personal hearing after being charged with
misconduct over historical social media posts, the club have announced.
Gray was
charged by the Football Association last week after posting homophobic comments
on Twitter in 2012.
The
25-year-old had been given until 6pm on Monday to respond to the charge.
The tweets -
made back in 2012, when Gray was playing non-league football - were brought to
light following Gray's role in Burnley's 2-0 win over Liverpool at Turf Moor.
One such
tweet, which has since been deleted, read: "Is it me or are there gays
everywhere? # Burn # Die # MakesMeSick."
Gray, 25, apologised
for the remarks, stating he is not homophobic and declaring that he
"was a completely different person to the man I am now."
— Andre
Gray (@AndreGray7) August 20, 2016
“I would
like to respond to media reports with regards to previous tweets posted from my
twitter account," offered Gray.
“Firstly, I
want to offer a sincere and unreserved apology to anybody I may have offended
in relation to these tweets.
“The tweets
were posted four years ago when I was a completely different person to the man
I am now.
“I was at a
very different point in my life back then - one that I’ve worked hard to move
on from.
“Thankfully
a lot has changed in my life since then. I have experienced a lot over the past
four years and have had to take responsibility for a number of things in my
life which has enabled me to mature and grow as a person since that time.
“I have a
lot of regrets regarding a number of things I’ve done in the past and realise I
have made some big mistakes, none more so than these tweets, but I would like
to stress that I’ve worked incredibly hard to transform my life since that
time."
Burnley
would back their player, who scored 23 times as they won the Championship last
season to secure a return to the top division.
"The
club would like to make it clear we do not condone any discriminatory behaviour
by any employee," read a statement on the Clarets' website.
"The
club also fully supports the FA’s Football v Homophobia campaign.
"However,
as Andre has made clear in a statement on his personal account, these are
social posts from four years ago, and in this time he has completely
transformed his life.
"The
player has also apologised and denied he is, in any way, shape or form homophobic."
Coventry
defender Chris Stokes was handed a one-game ban and fined 1,000 by the FA for
similar remarks earlier this year.
The
25-year-old was also made to attend an FA education course after he admitted
breaching FA Rules which relate to the use of social media.
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