Manchester United striker fined £15,000 for homophobic tweet

Manchester United striker Federico Macheda has been fined £15,000 by the Football Association for making homophobic comments on Twitter.

Newcastle United's Nile Ranger and Walsall's Manny Smith were fined £6,000 and £1,200 respectively by the FA on March 1 for the same charge but Macheda had requested a personal hearing, according to media reports.

The 20-year-old, who is on loan at QPR, is the latest in a series of professional footballers to be punished by the Football Association for remarks on the social media site.

We have already said our thoughts on this issue in previous blogs (see here). Such high-profile cases certainly help spread the message that homophobic behaviour from role models is not, and will not, be tolerated.

However how much this will hurt Macheda personally is questionable. The amount, which equates some people's annual salary, is about a week's wages in the world of a Premiership footballer.

We must hope that the message and the negative publicity around his behaviour will be enough of a deterrent to those that simply do not think twice before they tweet.

Three footballers charged for alleged homophobic Twitter remarks

Football players are continuing to find themselves in trouble for posting homophobia comments on social media website Twitter.

Just weeks after West Ham United player Ravel Morrison was fined £7,000 a trio of professional players have been charged with improper conduct by the Football Association.

These include Manchester United's Federico Macheda and Newcastle United's Nile Ranger.

A statement from the Football Association said: "Newcastle United’s Nile Ranger, Walsall’s Manny Smith and Manchester United’s Federico Macheda, currently on loan at Queens Park Rangers, have all been charged with improper conduct in relation to comments made on Twitter.

"The charge is that the players acted in a way which was improper and/or brought the game into disrepute. It is further alleged that the breach included a reference to a person’s or persons’ sexual orientation."

These cases follow a number of high profile cases. As well as Morrison, Leicester City footballer Michael Ball was fined £6,000 by the FA for a comment about the gay soap actor Anthony Cotton during his appearance on I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here! Lee Steele also was dismissed from Oxford City football club after comments he made about the openly gay rugby player Gareth Thomas during his stint in Celebrity Big Brother.

The Justin Campaign welcomes the FA taking such a strong stance on comments made on public sites by professional player. Football fans look up to these young men and women. When role models get told their actions are wrong then this can only have a knock-on effect.

However we are aware that while these high-profile cases are important it alone will not be enough. Far more is needed to raise awareness about the inequalities within sport, especially with the LGBT community.

It's what happens on the pitch what counts

Once again footballers in Germany seem to be taking the lead on the issue in homophobia on football.

Schalke and Germany goalkeeper Manuel Neuer has urged homosexual footballers to stop hiding their sexuality.

The 24-year-old, who has been recently linked to Liverpool and Manchester United, told a German celebrity magazine that coming out would lift a great weight from gay players' shoulders.

He added the fans would soon accept it saying what matters is the performance delivered by a player.

Neuer's comments follow on from those of Bayern Munich striker Mario Gomez last November.

Once again it is encouraging to see footballers speak positively about the issue.

The majority of players are actually very bright and aware of the wider world, contrary to popular belief.

More statements like this and both players and footballers alike will feel more comfortable with the fact that being LGBT is both fine and acceptable.

Rossi admits he's a bit of a Twit

Footballers are well versed in the art of social media and regularly turn to Twitter to register their post match thoughts.

But former Manchester United striker Giuseppe Rossi took his post-match rant a little far when he called a football fan "a homo" on the internet.

The American born Italian striker was writing after his current side Villarreal thrashed Athletic Bilbao 4-1 this weekend.

After being provoked by an American fan, Rossi replied by writing: "I know for a fact this homo (@twitter user) would never say these things in my face."

The twitter user retorted: "Betrays your country + responds to taunts + homosexual slurs = #notreallyatrue professional."

The next few hours saw dozens of people write to Rossi on the social media site complaining of his language.

Rossi later apologised for his behaviour writing: "I realised how unprofessional and ignorant my comment was by using the word homo...sorry if I offended anyone...I truly apologise."

It is clear from his reply that Rossi was clearly responding in anger and his comments were a made on the spur of the moment.

However, this does not excuse him from making homophobic remarks.

At the touch of a button they were widely spread and broadcast to more than 50,000 people in the Twittersphere.

Rossi knew what he was saying but did not think of the meaning of the word - it was meant as a purely derogatory retort to somebody who did he agree with.

It is a clear example that homophobic language is rife in the game. Footballers need to set an example.

To display homophobic hate in a vile mud slinging contest is simply unacceptable.