UEFA Find 'No Evidence' to Support Rhian Brewster Racism Claims Against Spartak Youth Team Captain

Spartak Moscow's Under-19s captain will not face punishment from UEFA after allegedly using racist language towards Liverpool wonderkid Rhian Brewster.

The Liverpool Echo has reported that Leonid Mironov will not be punished after European football's governing body found no evidence to support Brewster's complaint.

Mironov admitted swearing at the 17-year-old striker during a UEFA Youth League clash at Prenton Park back in December but denied that he had been racially abusive towards Brewster despite the latter's claims.

A statement from UEFA read: “Following the opening of proceedings, UEFA appointed an ethics and disciplinary inspector to conduct a thorough independent investigation and gather potential evidence relating to the case.

“Such an appointment is standard practice, given that allegations of racist behaviour are taken very seriously by UEFA and its disciplinary bodies in accordance with our zero tolerance policy towards any kind of discrimination.

“The inspector took statements from five players from both teams, as well as from two match officials, who were in the vicinity of the alleged incident. None of these heard any discriminatory words.

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“Leonid Mironov was also interviewed by the inspector and stated that he indeed swore at Rhian Brewster, but he unreservedly denied using any discriminatory language.

“After concluding his investigation, the inspector found no evidence to corroborate the allegations, which he believed were made in complete good faith by the Liverpool player Rhian Brewster.

“Therefore, the UEFA control, ethics and disciplinary body, following the recommendation of the inspector, established that there was no evidence that would legally support sanctioning Leonid Mironov and thus decided to close the disciplinary proceedings.”

Brewster reacted furiously to Mironov's comments during the match and had to be restrained by fellow players and Liverpool's coaching staff.

Liverpool lodged an official complaint with UEFA after the clash but, despite the latter charging Mironov with the offence, a three-month long investigation into what was actually said yielded no results that the Reds will be happy with.

Mironov could have been handed a 10-match ban by UEFA if they had found him guilty of racial abuse but the youngster is now free to continue playing for Spartak.

It is the second incident between the two clubs this term after Spartak were forced to partially close their stadium following racial chants aimed at Liverpool's Bobby Adekanye during the reverse fixture in September.