(Reuters) -A fan who racially abused former Tamworth striker Chris Wreh after the fifth-tier club's FA Cup defeat to Tottenham Hotspur has been banned from attending matches for three years, the Football Association said on Friday.
Harry Dunbar, of John Bunyan Close in Whiteley, admitted to sending a racist message to Wreh, who is Black, via Instagram after losing a bet on the match, which Tamworth lost 3-0 to Tottenham in the FA Cup third round on 12 January.
Dunbar, 20, was sentenced at Portsmouth Magistrates Court on Wednesday. In addition to the banning order, Dunbar will serve a 12-month Community Order of 200 hours unpaid work and 10 Rehabilitation Activity Requirement days.
"We welcome the decision of Portsmouth Magistrates' Court to impose a three-year football banning order on Harry Dunbar," the FA said in a statement.
"We hope that this ruling sends a clear message that incidents of discrimination – whether in person or online – will not be tolerated, and that strong action will be taken against perpetrators of this unacceptable behaviour."
Wreh refused to play for the National League side following the incident. He wrote on X, two days after the match that though he had the support of manager Andy Peaks, he was "disappointed" the club had not made a public statement condemning the abuse he had suffered.
(Reporting by Shifa Jahan in Bengaluru, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
