Tuesday 23 August 2016 22:12, UK
The Football Association has charged Burnley striker Andre Gray with misconduct in relation to comments he made on social media in 2012.
The charge concerns offensive tweets Gray sent when he was playing for non-league Hinckley United, which resurfaced in the aftermath of his debut Premier League goal against Liverpool on Saturday.
The 25-year-old subsequently released a statement in which he offered an "unreserved apology" to anyone offended by the Twitter posts and said that he was a different person now, one who did not "hold the beliefs written in those tweets whatsoever".
However, Gray could now face a fine and a possible suspension from football's governing body
The FA released a statement on Wednesday which read: "Burnley's Andre Gray has been charged with misconduct in respect of social media comments made between 9 January 2012 and 11 March 2012.
"It is alleged the comments were abusive and/or insulting and/or improper and/or brought the game into disrepute contrary to FA Rule E3(1).
"It is further alleged that these breaches include reference to an 'aggravating factor', namely, sexual orientation and/or gender and/or colour and/or race contrary to FA Rule E3(2).
"The player has until 6pm on Wednesday 31 August 2016 to respond to the charge."
Speaking on Wednesday, before the FA charge had been announced, Burnley manager Sean Dyche said that Gray's expressions of remorse were genuine.
Dyche said: "We spoke on Saturday evening and he made it clear to me what he wanted to do with it and how he wanted to conduct his statement.
"It was authentic to him and I thought it was very clear.
"He has moved a long way in his life and he made that clear with an apology and also reminded people that, 'look, I'm a different person'. A lot has gone on in his life to get him where he is now.
"I hope people will realise it was authentic because it was authentic, what he said."
