A Manchester City fan has been banned from football for five years by a judge and given a life ban by the club for the racist abuse of Raheem Sterling. Ian Baldry, 58, and from Bradford, pleaded guilty to the charge that he had abused the forward when Sterling scored in the second half of a 3-1 win at Bournemouth in December 2018. Baldry told Manchester magistrates court he regretted using the language involved and attributed it to overexcitement. Baldry’s 57-year-old friend James McConell, from Manchester, pleaded guilty to racially abusing Bournemouth’s Tyrone Mings and stewards. “The club would like to thank Manchester City supporters for reporting both incidents and their co-operation throughout the investigations.”

Source: The Guardian January 10, 2020 16:17 UTC