‘All wrong’ – Exclusive: Paul Robinson slams FA as Leeds ‘made to suffer’
We’re delighted to welcome former England goalkeeper Paul Robinson as our exclusive columnist. Each week he’ll be giving his views on the biggest talking points at Leeds United…
Paul Robinson has said the FA handled the Kiko Casilla really badly and claimed that “Leeds were made to suffer” because of it.
Casilla was charged with racist abuse that stemmed from the Championship game against Charlton in September.
However, his hearing didn’t take place until February when he was banned for eight games.
Talking to MOT Leeds News, Robinson slammed the FA but stopped short of criticising Leeds over their show of support for the player.
“I think it was handled all wrong from the start because it was left for so long by the FA,” Robinson said.
“I don’t understand why it took them so long to hear the case and get it sorted out.
“Leeds were made to suffer because Casilla’s form went down in that time. The club didn’t know what was happening and whether they were going to have to buy another keeper in January.
“It all went on for too long. In retrospect, the punishment for racism is ludicrously low. You get harsher punishments for other things and there’s no place in the game for it, there’s no place for it anywhere in society.
“The only way it is going to get stamped out is harsher punishments. My opinion on racism is that the punishment – fines and playing behind closed doors – is not enough.”
We were expecting another statement from Leeds after the FA released their written reasons behind Casilla’s guilty verdict.
The FA criticised the Leeds defence and claimed some of the players were unreliable witnesses.
However, Leeds supported Casilla up to the hearing and haven’t changed their position yet.
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