The former Birmingham assistant manager has been banned for seven games for homophobic comments


Former Birmingham City assistant manager Marcus Bignot has been banned on the touchline for seven games for making homophobic comments about Tottenham Hotspur manager Rehanne Skinner during a Women’s Super League (WSL) match in February, the Football Association (FA ) on Thursday with.

The FA charged Bignot with “misconduct” and “grave injury” due to the homophobic nature of the comments in March, but he denied the charges.

An independent commission confirmed the FA’s initial charges and ordered a mandatory face-to-face training program in addition to the touchline ban, adding that the charges could not be mitigated as Bignot had previously denied any wrongdoing.

“He was found to have made a comment that was patently homophobic and totally unacceptable. It is particularly important that homophobic comments like those made by Mr Bignot are severely punished,” the commission said in a statement.

The commission was informed that Bignot had lost his job at Birmingham and also at Guiseley AFC as a result of the charges, while his coaching role at England U-19 has been suspended pending the conclusion of the case.