Morecambe's Yann Songo'o has been charged by the Football Association for allegedly directing a homophobic insult at an opposing player.
The FA launched an investigation into the incident after Songo'o was shown a straight red card in Morecambe's home defeat to Tranmere at the end of last month.
A statement on the FA Spokesperson Twitter site read: "Morecambe FC's Yann Songo'o has been charged with an 'aggravated breach' of FA Rule E3 following their EFL League Two fixture against Tranmere Rovers FC on Saturday 30 January 2021.
"It is alleged that the midfielder used abusive and/or insulting language towards an opponent during the 45th minute of the fixture, which is contrary to FA Rule E3.1, and that this constitutes an 'aggravated breach', as defined in FA Rule E3.2, because the language included a reference to sexual orientation."
Songo'o has until Wednesday, February 24 to provide a response, the FA said.
The 29-year-old French midfielder was sent off by referee Paul Howard for his outburst as a Tranmere player was receiving treatment following a foul.
Songo'o was condemned by Rover & Out, an LGBT fan group connected to Tranmere, after the Sky Bet League Two match.
Rover & Out tweeted: "We are proud of our players' response in immediately recognising the language was unacceptable.
"We would like to thank the referee, (Paul Howard), who acted swiftly to remove the player from the pitch and will be contacting him to express our gratitude for his decisive action.
"We will be writing to Morecambe FC to raise our concerns that this incident took place and request information on what they will be doing to avoid such conduct in future."
Kick It Out said it supported Rover & Out's statement, adding: "There is no place for homophobic language in football. It is damaging and hurtful.
"As role models, players in particular should be mindful of the impact of their words."
Morecambe responded at the time by saying they "abhor abuse of any sort, be it be on the grounds of race, colour, religion, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, age, disability or sexual orientation".
The club added they were waiting for the final match report before making any specific comment on the incident, but declined to comment on Wednesday when approached by the PA news agency.
