Newcastle United's Steven Taylor escapes FA action over 'racist' tweet

The Football Association have announced that Newcastle United defender Steven Taylor will not be punished for posting a controversial tweet regarding his teammates.

The English governing body decided to investigate claims of a racist tweet sent by the 27-year-old, who posted an image of four black men, who were meant to represent Papiss Cisse, Massadio Haidara, Vurnon Anita and Moussa Sissoko.

Along with the image, Taylor wrote the caption, "it's always good to see you guys smiling," but later deleted it following a backlash from followers.

The FA, who have reminded the defender about his social media responsibilities, have confirmed that Taylor told them that the original image was sent to him by teammate Haidara.

A statement from the governing body said: "The FA has issued a reminder to Mr Steven Taylor of Newcastle United FC in respect of the public nature of social networking websites, and the risk of postings being taken out of context, following a post he made to Twitter of four pictures on November 15.

"Steven Taylor has confirmed to The FA that the four pictures he posted on his Twitter account were sent to him by Massadio Haidara."

Taylor apologised for any offence caused after deleting the tweet.