July 30 (Reuters) - Premier League players found guilty of discrimination offences will face a minimum 10-match ban under strengthened English FA sanction guidelines for aggravated breaches, the governing body said on Thursday.
"Enhanced measures are necessary to tackle this abhorrent conduct, and our updated sanction guidelines will now require Regulatory Commissions to impose a standard suspension of at least 10 matches in these circumstances," the FA said in a statement.
• An aggravated breach covers misconduct involving an explicit or implied reference to a person's ethnicity, colour, race, nationality, religion, gender, sexual orientation or disability.
• The FA's recommended match suspensions for players, managers and technical-area occupants found guilty of aggravated breaches had previously ranged from six to 12 games.
• Under the revised guidelines, longer bans may be imposed where significant aggravating factors exist. A reduced sanction can be considered if mitigating circumstances are present and the individual admits the offence at the earliest opportunity.
• The minimum suspension in such cases will be six matches, with penalties below that threshold available only when the aggravated breach occurred solely in writing.
• Players or officials found guilty of a second aggravated breach will face a stronger sanction than for a first offence.
(Reporting by Karan Prashant Saxena in Bengaluru, editing by Ed Osmond)
