The Football Association has revealed that Leeds United defender Giuseppe Bellusci was cleared of racially abusing Norwich City striker Cameron Jerome due to incident being identified as a misunderstanding.
The 25-year-old was accused of targeting racist language towards Jerome during a 1-1 draw at Carrow Road back in October.
However, the governing body dropped the charge after an independent regulatory commission looked into the case at a personal hearing.
Today, the FA released the written reasons behind the decision, stating that Bellusci was accused of calling Jerome a "negro", but the panel were satisfied that the defender used his native tongue of Italian to say "nero" (meaning black) while threatening to give his opponent a black eye.
The document stated: "On the balance of probabilities, we find that Mr Bellusci used the word 'nero' once, in the context that he claims, and that Mr Jerome misheard or misinterpreted what was said as 'negro'."
Jerome expressed his disappointment after the charge was dropped earlier this month.
Danielle Joynson
