Tom Pope has been charged by the Football Association with breaching two of its rules over a tweet in which he shared a Rothschild conspiracy theory.
The Port Vale forward wrote on Twitter: “We invade Iran then Cuba then North Korea then the Rothchilds [sic] are crowned champions of every bank on the planet - the end” after scoring the team’s only goal against Manchester City the day before.
He later deleted the tweet and apologised, saying: “I was unaware of any link between the Rothchild [sic] family and the Jewish community.”
An FA spokesperson said: “Tom Pope has been charged with a breach of FA Rule E3 in relation to a social media post on 5 January 2020.”
The FA rules require participants “at all times act in the best interests of the game" and not "act in any manner which is improper or brings the game into disrepute or use any one, or a combination of, violent conduct, serious foul play, threatening, abusive, indecent or insulting words or behaviour.”
Mr Pope’s breach is alleged to be “aggravated” as “it included a reference, whether expressed or implied, to race and/or religion and/or ethnic origin,” the FA said.
According to the FA rulebook, such a breach could lead to a five-match suspension, which may be increased “depending on any additional aggravating factors present”.
A club statement said that Mr Pope “strongly denies the allegations” and would “vigorously defend the charge.”
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