FORMER Chelsea coach Gwyn Williams was reportedly secretly handed a lifetime ban by the FA.

Williams was involved in a bullying and racism scandal that led to the Blues paying out-of-court settlements to a number of youth players.

Four ex-youth-team players received six-figure sums after alleged historical racial abuse from Williams and another coach, Graham Rix, in the 1990s.

Williams, 76, spent 27 years working at Chelsea and held several prominent roles.

He was handed the biggest punishment possible to the English football’s governing body.

This came after an investigation found him to be "a risk of harm to children within affiliated football".

The ban had never been announced despite being issued in 2019 due to the FA stance.

It had been thought that he had retired from the sport having worked with legends such as Jose Mourinho and Claudio Ranieri.

But The Athletic have claimed that he was in fact banned from having any involvement in the sport.

Rix, 66, was judged that he "may pose a risk of harm" to children by a safeguarding panel decision in 2019.

However, the FA ruled that it did not have enough evidence to substantiate the allegations of racism against him.

The FA's safeguarding team spoke to 15 witnesses as part of its investigation of Williams.

This included his former colleagues and a number of players who suffered abuse.

Most of them claimed that Williams was a racist and was aggressive and a bully on more than one occasion.

It is also claimed that he used language such as the N-word and "black b******".

The FA's policy of reporting on safeguarding suspensions states: "Publication of details can have serious consequences.

"This includes re-traumatising victims and/or causing them to re-live harmful abusive experiences.

"In addition, vigilantism can have harmful effects on innocent people connected to those involved in safeguarding cases."

The FA declined to comment when approached by SunSport