FA acts to defend referee Riley

Riley has been strongly backed by the FA

The Football Association has reported Levski Sofia president Todor Batkov to Uefa for calling referee Mike Riley a "British homosexual".

Riley was in charge of Levski's 3-1 home loss in a Uefa Cup tie against Schalke 04 and stopped the tie after racist abuse aimed at Gerald Asamoah.

Riley informed the fourth official who arranged for a tannoy message calling for the home fans to stop their chants.

Batkov is alleged to have said: "This British homosexual broke the game."

Riley also told Asamoah he would report the chanting to Uefa and the Bulgarian club may now face a twin punishment over the matter.

The FA's head of refereeing, Neale Barry, told the English governing body's website: "Mike is to be thoroughly applauded for his actions in informing Uefa and club officials that he had encountered totally unacceptable racist abuse being aimed at Gerald Asamoah.

"Mike is one of this country's top officials, hence his appointment by Uefa for such a prestigious quarter-final tie, and the subsequent comments by the Levski Sofia president have also been reported by myself to Uefa, as they are deeply offensive."