Marvin Sordell reported that he and team-mates had been subjected to abuse during Bolton's defeat at Millwall. Photograph: Paul Currie/Action Images
The Football Association has praised Millwall's action against a 13-year-old boy who admitted verbally abusing Bolton's Marvin Sordell. Millwall have banned the teenager from home matches for "the foreseeable future", the Championship club announced in a statement.
The incident happened during the 2-1 victory over Bolton at the Den on 6 October. Sordell alleged that he and several of his team-mates had been racially abused, with himself being referred to as a "slave".
Millwall called in the police to investigate with the FA also looking into the matter. Millwall said that because of the age and background of the boy – who, according to the club, wrote a letter to Sordell offering his apology – they will place him on an education programme "in the hope that we can change his outlook on equality, racism and life in general".
The FA said: "The FA applauds both Millwall and Bolton Wanderers for their commitment and cooperation in ensuring a full and thorough investigation could take place.
"We would also like to thank Marvin Sordell and the PFA for their assistance throughout this process. The FA fully supports Millwall's approach in terms of dealing with the young individual responsible through a ban from the club's matches for the foreseeable future as well as offering him a place on one of its education programmes run by Millwall for All.
"As the English game's governing body, the FA continues to work closely with our partners to ensure we eradicate all forms of discrimination in football, including the important work Kick it Out undertakes with professional clubs through the Equality Standards."
Millwall stated: "Having completed our investigations into the incident, we have identified and interviewed a 13-year-old boy who admitted a verbal exchange with Marvin Sordell in which abuse was used. The individual has been banned from Millwall matches for the foreseeable future but as a club we also felt, given the boy's age and background, we had a duty to play our part in attempting to educate and rehabilitate him.
"Accordingly, we have offered to put him through one of our education programmes, run by Millwall for All (formerly the Millwall Anti-Racism Trust) in the hope that we can change his outlook on equality, racism and life in general.
"In the meantime, the boy has written a letter to Marvin Sordell offering his apology, which has been accepted. We would also like to put on record how disappointed everybody at Millwall was in the way in which the initial allegations were reported in some sections of the media.
"These reports were made with no knowledge of the facts and created the impression that Bolton players were subjected to racial chanting or systematic abuse by more than one individual. We trust that, now the facts have emerged, certain individuals will reflect on the reports they made.
"Finally, it is our hope that all of us within football, including governing bodies, clubs, players, fans and the media can continue to work together to build on the progress that has been made over many years in effectively tackling the issue of racism in our game, rather than merely sensationalising, and thereby trivialising it."
