NON-LEAGUE players are being reminded by the Football Association that it is not only those in the Premier League and Football League in danger of falling foul of social networking sites.
Chelsea and England star Ashley Cole recently landed himself a 90,000 pounds fine for a misguided comment on twitter.
The FA want to educate players and club employees on the pitfalls of sites such as twitter and facebook in hope of reducing the rising number of complaints and referrals.
Last season Mansfield midfielder Jamie Hand was fined 250 quid for bringing the game into disrepute and warned as to his future conduct after tweeting offensive comments about Luton Town fans.
The FA have outlined to The NLP where players or club officials can go wrong from attacking officials' integrity to re-tweeting someone else's post if it is inappropriate.
Jenni Kennedy, the FA's Head of Off-Field Regulation, said: “We've seen an increase in the number of referrals to us particularly relating to twitter.
“We completely understand that participants in the game, be they players, coaches, or senior figures at the club, view social networking as a highly effective way to engage with fans and the general public.
Risk
“The key thing to remember is that it is a public platform and, therefore, all comments will be considered as such by the FA and other authorities, including the police.
“We advise all participants to exercise caution when using social networking sites or risk possible FA disciplinary action. In short, they are required to act in the best interest of the game at all times.”
Charges are heard not by the FA but by an Independent Regulatory Commission and the severity of punishment is at their discretion.
The FA's disciplinary remit for off-field governance is as the same as it is for on-field, meaning participants of Step 4 and above in the Pyramid are bound by its rules and regulations.
The governing body's new Rules and Governance website enables everyone to get an understanding of how the game is governed. Visit www.thefa.com/football-rules-governance
STAYING THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE LAW
– All comments on social networking sites may be considered public comment by The FA.
– Any comments which are improper, bring the game into disrepute or are threatening, abusive, indecent or insulting may lead to disciplinary action.
– Comments about match officials which imply bias, attack the officials' integrity or are personally offensive in nature are considered improper.
– Comments which include a reference to a person's ethnic origin, colour, race, nationality, faith, gender, sexual orientation or disability may be considered aggravated and attract a higher disciplinary sanction.
– Re-tweeting another person's post may lead to disciplinary action if the original comment was improper.
– Deleting or apologising publicly for an improper posting, whilst advisable, does not prevent disciplinary action being taken.
-? An individual is strictly responsible for any posting on his/her account. The fact that a posting or comment may have been made by a third party will not prevent disciplinary action being taken against the account holder.
