Leeds United goalkeeper Kiko Casilla has been found guilty by the FA following an investigation into his alleged racially-aggravated abuse towards Charlton Athletic’s Jonathan Leko back in September.
The Spanish stopper has been a very important part of Marcelo Bielsa’s side since signing from Real Madrid in January 2019, not missing a single league game since then, however, he will miss the next eight games after confirmation of his ban by the club.
The Whites faced Charlton back in September at the Valley looking to continue their early push for automatic promotion but were dealt a blow as they fell to their second defeat of the season thanks to a first-half Macauley Bonne effort.
The goal, ironically, came via a mistake from Casilla when he failed to clear a corner and instead punched the ball directly into Bonne.
The incident in question took place in the second half where it was claimed that Casilla had used racially-aggravated language towards Leko, which was not picked up by the officials at the time.
He was subsequently charged, but as he vehemently denied the claims, it went to an in-depth appeal process where both parties provided evidence of their side of the claim.
The Whites have now confirmed that they acknowledge the charges and released a statement on the matter on their official website: “Leeds United acknowledges that Kiko Casilla has been found guilty of breaching FA Rule E3 during our Sky Bet Championship game with Charlton Athletic in September 2019.
“Casilla has been banned for 8 games following the verdict from the FA.
“We would like to make it clear that we do not tolerate any form of discrimination within our football club and we are a leader in the fight against discrimination within our wider community.
“However, it is important to recognise that Kiko has always denied making any racist comment.
“The FA panel have based their decision on the balance of probability rather than proving Kiko to be guilty beyond reasonable doubt, which we have always believed is the more appropriate burden of proof.”
The verdict
It’s not surprising at all to see Casilla charged as it’s a very serious accusation and Leko was adamant that what he heard was worthy of reporting.
While Casilla denies the claims and strongly contested the charge, it has to be said that he cannot argue against such claims if the FA deem his actions to have been racist.
This isn’t the first case of a player being deemed guilty on the balance of probability and while Leeds suggest that they do not entirely agree with this type of verdict, it sends a bold and positive statement about their stance on racism.
It’s a huge blow for Leeds for the next eight games as they have lost the league’s top keeper for clean sheets, but Illan Meslier has proven he has what it takes.