by Our Sports Desk

THE Football Association are to be questioned regarding their recent handling of anti-discrimination cases, in the wake of the investigation into Heather Rabbatts’s comments backing former Chelsea doctor Eva Carneiro.

Members of the FA’s Inclusion Advisory Board (IAB) say they have “deep concerns” about a number of cases and will tackle chief executive Martin Glenn and director of governance Darren Bailey about the issues raised at a meeting in November.

Top of the list of concerns will be the FA investigation into Rabbatts, the chair of the IAB, which was launched after a complaint from two FA councillors about her criticism of the FA’s handling of the Carneiro case.

Carneiro left Chelsea after being demoted from first-team duties and publicly humiliated by petulant manager Jose Mourinho for treating Eden Hazard on the opening day of the season.

Independent members of the IAB have written a joint letter to FA chairman Greg Dyke and all FA councillors backing Rabbatts and criticising the investigation.

The letter states: “The IAB members have expressed deep concerns about a number of recent anti-discrimination cases.

“In the meantime, we wish to express our unwavering support for Heather Rabbatts and, further, to seek reassurance that she still has the full support of the FA board.

“We were concerned to see two members of the FA Council question Heather’s integrity this week with an FA enquiry now underway. Their seeming priorities surely serve only to distract from the real issues at stake within football such as fairness, equality and respect.”

Other cases include former Wigan chairman Dave Whelan, who was banned for six weeks for comments he made about Jewish and Chinese people, and the decision to take no disciplinary action against former Cardiff manager Malky Mackay over racist and sexist texts he sent to a colleague.