The FA "fundamentally disagrees" with the findings of an independent panel that decided former Crawley Town manager John Yems "is not a conscious racist".
The three-person panel - which was convened by the FA after it charged Yems with 16 offences - found he was "not a conscious racist" despite the 63-year-old admitting one charge and being found guilty of 11 others relating to comments that referenced either ethnic origin, colour, race, nationality, religion, belief or gender between 2019 and 2022.
Kick It Out said it was "very hard to understand" the panel's findings, while Tony Burnett, the organisation's chief executive, described them as "utterly bizarre".
The FA is now "actively considering its legal options" because there is so much anger at the decision of the panel, and the language used in its judgement.
In a statement, the FA said: "The FA brought 16 charges of discrimination against John Yems.
"The independent regulatory commission decided on an 18-month ban for the 12 charges which it upheld or was admitted.
"We had requested a longer ban. Based on the evidence presented to the commission, we fundamentally disagree with the independent panel's finding that this was not a case of conscious racism. As a result, we are considering our legal options."
