Richard Chaplow, the former Burnley, West Brom and Southampton midfielder, has been banned for two matches in the United States for verbal abuse of openly gay LA Galaxy defender Robbie Rogers.

However, Chaplow has vigorously denied that any of his language was homophobic. Furthermore, the USL made no finding that he had used any homophobic language.

The incident took place during last Saturday's match between the Orange County Blues - Chaplow's club - and the LA Galaxy reserve team in the third tier United Soccer League.

After the match Rogers released a post on social media that he was repeatedly called a "queer" by an opposing player, sparking huge controversy and widespread support for the former US international.

On Wednesday, the USL announced in a statement that they had suspended Chaplow for two matches and fined him for "offensive and abusive language directed at another player during his team’s game against the LA Galaxy II on Aug 20".