Swindon Town captain Olly Clarke was suspended for seven games earlier this season, but the FA has revealed in a detailed report the exact reasons why he was suspended.
The incident occurred during Swindon Town’s Carabao Cup match against Cardiff City in August (Image: Getty Images)
The FA has confirmed that Swindon Town captain Olly Clarke has been handed a seven-match ban for touching a rival player’s private parts during a match. The 33-year-old was suspended earlier this season, but why he was sidelined remained a mystery.
However, the governing body has now published a report into a number of incidents that took place at the Carabao-Cardiff City match on August 12 last year. Taking into account referee Elliott Bell’s report, it was suggested that Clarke, 33, committed a “gross offense” after touching the private parts of two unnamed opponents.
The FA’s report said: “Regarding charge 1, the committee considered the player’s conduct to be highly irregular and a deliberate offence,” and added: “Regarding charge 2, the committee considered the player’s conduct to be once again highly irregular and a deliberate offence. A further aggravating factor in the incident was that it occurred 37 minutes after the first incident within the same match.”
The report continued: “The obscenity of this conduct requires an immediate sports sanction of at least six games. Taking both cases together, the panel applied nine games as a starting point and then reduced the penalty to seven games based on the blanket principle.”
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The FA further detailed that Clarke had admitted to the charges while insisting the incident was unintentional, a claim rejected by the governing body. It further suggested that there was “no plausible explanation” for his actions and that they were “highly invasive, intrusive and invasive”.
A statement from Swindon Town read: “Swindon Town Football Club confirms the written reasons issued by the FA in relation to Ollie Clarke following the recent Regulatory Commission decision.
“Throughout the process, Ollie Clarke has maintained his innocence and has only admitted the charges on the basis that both charges were unintentional. The club continues to support Ollie and will continue to do so. Swindon Town Football Club will be making no further comment at this time.”
Swindon manager Ian Holloway slams Clarke’s suspension (Image: Getty Images)
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Swindon manager Ian Holloway also criticized the suspension. Speaking to the Swindon Advertiser, he said:
“I don’t understand why it took so long to deal with this issue and that our process of talking to them and appealing to them is complete nonsense. I feel for Olly and so do the players. He’s honest, hard-working and aggressive. What more do we need? But is he too aggressive? I don’t think so.”
Clarke joined Swindon from Mansfield Town in 2024 and made 55 appearances for the club, scoring eight goals.
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