Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers insists Hamza Choudhury is genuinely “remorseful” over offensive historic tweets which the midfielder apologised for this week.
Rodgers will have no qualms about selecting Choudhury for Monday’s clash with Manchester City, after revealing the 21-year-old pro-actively apologised off his own back for social media posts regarding race and mental health.
The Football Association has since charged Choudhury with misconduct.
Former Celtic boss Rodgers said: “Firstly it was something that Hamza wanted to deal with. He was a 15-year-old at the time and certainly at 21 you are totally different. He was very apologetic and he wanted to put that out there.
“He’s remorseful for his comments but when you make a mistake you learn from it.”
Asked whether Choudhury is in the right frame of mind to play, Rodgers added: “He is absolutely fine.
“When you are a kid, you make mistakes. At 14 or 15 you will say something and it gets thrown back at you seven years later.
“He understands his comments aren’t acceptable. He will learn from that and he will move on.
“He’s a great boy. He’s a father and he understands the comments are not what you expect but he has learned from it and he is apologetic.”
In its statement, the FA said: “It is alleged that the comments breach FA Rule E3(1) as they were abusive and/or insulting and/or improper and/or brought the game into disrepute.
“It is further alleged that the comments constitute an ‘aggravated breach’, which is defined in FA Rule E3(2), as they included reference to ethnic origin and/or race and/or sexual orientation.
“The midfielder has until 13 May 2019 to provide a response.”
