Roberto Firmino cleared of racially abusing Mason Holgate by the FA

Firmino has been told he has no case to answer after an FA investigation

The pair clashed during an FA Cup clash between Liverpool and Everton (Getty)

Liverpool forward Roberto Firmino will face no disciplinary action following his clash with Everton’s Mason Holgate in the FA Cup third round tie at Anfield, the Football Association has announced.

Firmino and Holgate clashed during the first-half of Liverpool’s 2-1 victory on January 5. Holgate pushed Firmino over the advertising hoardings and into the crowd, before the pair angrily exchanged words.

The FA opened an investigation into the clash the following day, with a statement from the governing body acknowledging that referee Bobby Madley was “made aware of an allegation” by Holgate which he subsequently included in his official match report.

The FA said in a statement: “Having considered all of the available evidence, we consider it is not sufficient to raise a charge against Firmino.

“However, we are completely satisfied that the allegation was made in absolute good faith by Holgate and that there is no suggestion of this being an intentionally false or malicious allegation.”

The FA added that Firmino “stated that he had insulted Holgate in Portuguese, but denied categorically using any discriminatory language towards him”.

Portuguese lip reading experts were then consulted to assess “unseen footage”, which the FA say proved Firmino’s innocence.

Lip reading experts helped to prove Firmino's innocence (Getty)

“As part of the investigation, The FA sought the assistance of a Brazilian/Portuguese linguistic specialist on the words alleged,” the statement continued.

“In addition to this, we also obtained multiple angles of video footage, including broadcast and unseen footage showing the incident, which was assessed by two independent Portuguese speaking lip reading experts.”

Everton published an immediate response to the statement, acknowledging the results of the investigation.

Everton have accepted the results of the investigation (Getty)

“Everton Football Club acknowledges and appreciates the thoroughness of the FA’s investigation into the incident that took place during our FA Cup third round game on January 5,” the club said.

“The Club welcomes the FA’s expression of complete satisfaction that the allegation made by our player, Mason Holgate, was done so in absolute good faith, that proper process was followed and that there is no suggestion of malice or dishonesty on Mason’s part.

“The Club also welcomes the FA’s commitment to continue to treat all allegations of a discriminatory nature with extreme seriousness. In challenging circumstances, the FA has reached its determination and, as a Club, we accept this.”

Liverpool said in a statement that they were “satisfied” with the outcome of the process and thanked Firmino for his co-operation, adding “that being subjected to such a serious allegation for this length of time has been hurtful to him and his family”.