
DWIGHT YORKE -
LONDON (Reuters) - "A football fan has been fined 1,000 pounds and banned from soccer matches for five years after pleading guilty to racially abusing Birmingham City striker Dwight Yorke at a game against Blackburn Rovers.
Police said Jason Perryman, 22, admitted in court on Wednesday to charges of racially aggravated offences against Yorke, the Trinidad and Tobago and former Manchester United striker.
The Football Association and the Premier League welcomed the ban in a joint statement, which said the "strongest possible action" should be taken against racist behaviour.
"Blackburn Rovers and the police are to be applauded for acting quickly and decisively in this case," the statement added.
A second man, David Ashcroft, 21, denied the same charges at Blackburn Magistrates Court and has been released on bail pending a pre-trial preview on December 22.
Birmingham City manager Steve Bruce said after Sunday's Premier League match at Ewood Park against Blackburn Rovers that Yorke had suffered monkey chants similar to those faced by England's black players during last week's 1-0 friendly defeat in Spain.
Yorke was subjected to the abuse as he was warming up near the touchline.
Perryman and Ashcroft voluntarily went to a police station on Tuesday after learning that an investigation had been launched into the incident."