FA open investigation into “homophobic tweets” from Mason Holgate’s account

Mason Holgate could be looking at a suspension after the FA opened an investigation into tweets allegedly sent by the Everton star which included homophobic language.

Several tweets from Holgate's Twitter account emerged last Friday after the Everton star reportedly claimed that he had been racially abused by Liverpool's Roberto Firmino when the pair clashed in the fiery FA Cup third round clash at Anfield. Supporters dug up tweets in which Holgate allegedly used homophobic terms in posts from 2012 and 2013. The Times report that 21-year-old is now facing the threat of a misconduct charge and possible ban after an FA probe into the social media posts. The Twitter account, @MasonHolgateee, was deleted in the aftermath of Friday's game but it remains unclear why the account's owner decided to do so. The FA has a tendency to come down hard on behaviour like the kind which Holgate is alleged to have engaged in. Watford forward Andre Gray, then at Burnley, was suspended by the FA for four matches in 2016 after homophobic tweets from 2012 re-emerged. Gray issued an apology for his behaviour, claiming that he "was at a very different point in my life back then." That same year, Coventry's Chris Stokes was hit with a one-game ban and fined £1,000 for a tweet during a Premier League match between Chelsea and Tottenham in which he branded the players a "bunch of f****ts".