Preston North End's deadline on Milutin Osmajic reply after FA charge and Burnley man's allegations

Preston North End’s deadline to respond to Milutin Osmajic’s charge has now passed.

The striker was charged by the FA on March 17 and given until March 25 to respond. However, PNE were granted an extension given that Osmajic was visiting a specialist for treatment on an injury.

The Lancashire Post understands the extension was until Wednesday, 2 April. Osmajic was charged with breaching FA Rule E3, during the Lancashire derby against Burnley on Saturday, 15 February.

Clarets midfielder Hannibal Mejbri made racism allegations against the Montenegrin. The Deepdale clash was paused and the Burnley man then took to social media after the game.

On the back of the charge, PNE’s club statement read: ‘Preston North End acknowledges the charges brought against Milutin Osmajić by The FA following last month’s Sky Bet Championship fixture against Burnley.

‘Milutin continues to strongly deny the allegations of the use of abusive language with reference to colour and/or race and will provide an official response to The FA charges in due course. Until such a time where the case has been concluded, the club will be making no further comment.’

“There’s a big process to go through.”

It was reported that the FA spoke with Hannibal to learn his version of events, in the days prior to Osmajic being charged. PNE boss Paul Heckingbottom had confirmed that the forward also held dialogue with investigators, regarding the incident.

“There's been conversations, yes,” Heckingbottom told the Lancashire Post in mid-March. “But that’s it; the process is however long it goes on. Like I said, this can't be rushed. This is a serious incident, a serious case. So, yes, there's a big process to go through.”

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