Western Sydney Wanderers striker Brendon Santalab was found not guilty of racially abusing another player, an independent Football Federation Australia disciplinary committee declared yesterday.

Santalab was accused of making racial comments towards Sydney FC's Ali Abbas during a derby match last month.

Abbas claimed that Santalab made racial slurs against his culture and religion which was strenuously denied by the Wanderers player.

If found guilty the striker would have faced a potential five-week ban but to the dismay of Sydney FC, the committee cited a lack of proof as a key factor in its decision.

"Brendon Santalab accepted that Ali Abbas genuinely believed that the offensive word had been used and did not challenge the fact that Ali Abbas believed he had been the subject of racial abuse," read an FFA statement.

"Having regard to the circumstances surrounding the incident, particularly the undisputed high noise levels and in the absence of other eyewitness or corroborative evidence, it was possible that Ali Abbas may have misheard what was said by Brendon Santalab.

"Therefore the committee was not satisfied to the necessary standard of proof that the offending words were used by Brendon Santalab and dismissed the matter."

Professional Footballers Australia chief executive Adam Vivian reiterated the PFA's position that there is no place for racism in football and the game has a vital role to play in positively shaping community attitudes in Australia's multicultural society.

"The last five weeks have been extremely difficult for both players," Vivian said.

"It is important that the A-League learns from the incident to build the game's capacity to prevent racism at all levels and to ensure the best processes are in place should there ever be a complaint.

"The PFA plans to build on its partnership with FFA that was established during the recent "All Together Now" Erasing Racism Round to open dialogue in three key areas:

"1: A review of the education programs in place for A-League players.
"2: The development of improved education programmes for grass-roots and community footballers with the involvement and support of A-League players.
"3: A review of the game's procedures for dealing with complaints."