Ryan Babel last month became the first player to be punished for comments made on Twitter when he was fined £10,000 for posting a mocked-up picture of referee Howard Webb wearing a Manchester United shirt after his team, Liverpool, lost at Old Trafford in the FA Cup. Babel has since moved on to Hoffenheim in the Bundesliga.
“The FA has issued clarification to participants relating to the use of social networking sites, including, but not limited to Twitter, Facebook and internet blogs,” read a statement from the FA. “Participants should be aware that comments made on such sites may be considered public comment, and that further to FA Rule E3, any comments which are deemed improper, bring the game into disrepute, or are threatening, abusive, indecent or insulting may lead to disciplinary action.”
The statement added: “Comments which are personal in nature or could be construed as offensive, use foul language or contain direct or indirect threats aimed at other participants are likely to be considered improper.”
Players have also been warned that although they may believe their postings are only visible to selected people, they could still end up in the public domain. “Consequently, care should be exercised with regards to the contents of such postings,” the statement added. “In addition, we would remind participants that social networking postings could also lead to civil proceedings being brought by affected parties.”
