Roy Keane’s soon-to-be son-in-law, Taylor Harwood-Bellis, is coming under fire after he was caught using discriminatory language.

The incident came during the first half of Harwood-Bellis’ Southampton’s win over Middlesbrough in the Championship play-off semi-finals. The Saints went 1-0 down early on through a goal from Riley McGree.

Southampton would equalise on the stroke of halftime through Ross Stewart, but not before a moment that could have serious consequences for Harwood-Bellis.

The centre back and former Manchester City academy graduate was caught in a bust-up with Boro defender Luke Ayling, and the incident quickly escalated as referee Andrew Madley went over to tell the two managers what had happened.

While unclear live, reports circulated at halftime that Harwood-Bellis had used discriminatory language towards Luke Ayling. It’s not known exactly what was said by Taylor Harwood-Bellis, who is engaged to and has a child with Leah Keane, daughter of Roy.

Ayling, who previously played for Leeds United in the Premier League, speaks with a stammer, something he’s been open about.

The FA have said it will now review Madley’s referee report. If found guilty of using discriminatory language, the FA says the ‘Standard Minimum’ punishment is 6 matches, but that minimum can be increased to 12 matches. That ban will carry over into next season if Taylor Harwood-Bellis is found guilty.

‘I don’t have an understanding of the situation yet,’ Southampton manager Tonda Eckert said on the incident. ‘But I have seen that the two of them spoke straight after the game and there was obviously a lot of emotion, but they seemed fine – so I need to check with him [Harwood-Bellis] about what happened exactly.’

There was no love lost between the two sides, as after ‘spygate’ being all the talk in the lead-up to the clash, Southampton would book their place in the play-off final at Wembley after Shea Charles scored deep into the second half of extra-time.