Swindon Town have issued a statement confirming manager Paolo Di Canio denies racially abusing Leyton Orient forward Jonathan Téhoué.

The Daily Mail reported the Robins boss will be interviewed by the Football Association after they received a letter from Téhoué last week.

The French striker is reported to have complained to Swindon’s chief executive Nicholas Watkins that Di Canio had made a racially abusive comment about him in front of Swindon players, while he was not present.

The alleged comment was then passed on to Téhoué by his County Ground team-mates.

Téhoué joined Swindon in March but only made three appearances for the club.

And the Wiltshire side have issued the following statement on the matter.

“Following an article in today's Daily Mail, the club feels it is imperative to put the record straight on a number of points.

“There is always a danger that without appropriate response, the headline grabbing approach of tabloid journalism, based on innuendo and sensationalism rather than facts, creates a misguided belief along the lines of 'there is no smoke without fire'.

“For the record, STFC states categorically that it operates a zero tolerance approach towards racism.

“With regard to the specific complaint raised by Jonathan Tehoue, the Board was fully appraised of the facts at the time of the alleged incident back in March and having investigated it, was satisfied that it was without merit and took appropriate action then. The club will of course however happily assist the FA in its enquiries.

“The manager, Paolo Di Canio denies completely any suggestion that he used toward Jonathan Tehoue or anyone, abusive, insulting or threatening words or behaviour by reference to race or at all and the Board wishes to affirm its complete and unequivocal support for its manager in this regard.

“Further, the Board is wholly satisfied that any decisions concerning Jonathan Tehoue's playing career whilst at STFC, were made for purely footballing reasons.”