The Football Association's investigation into Mason Holgate's claim that Roberto Firmino racially abused him yielded insufficient evidence to take disciplinary action against the Liverpool forward.

The accusation was formally lodged following Everton's 2-1 FA Cup defeat at the home of its Merseyside rival on Jan. 5. Holgate and Firmino were involved in an altercation during the encounter.

"We are completely satisfied that the allegation was made in absolute good faith by Holgate and that there is no suggestion of this being an intentionally false or malicious allegation," Wednesday's statement read.

"We continue to take all allegations of discrimination extremely seriously and would encourage all participants who believe that they have been the subject of or witness to discriminatory abuse to report this through the appropriate channels. Holgate and Everton followed the proper process by reporting the matter to the match officials at the time and subsequently to The FA."

Holgate alleged that Firmino had used a "discriminatory term towards him" in the derby, and immediately reported this to referee Bobby Madley, his assistants, and Everton teammates who were in close proximity. The complaint was logged by Madley after the match, and then subsequently reported to the FA.

Individual statements from 12 players, team officials, the referee, and fourth official deduced that no-one directly heard the words Holgate claimed Firmino had said. Various angles of the incident were also viewed by independent Portuguese lip reading experts, but their findings did not support Holgate's allegation.

(Photo courtesy: Getty Images)

"We thank Roberto for the manner in which he has conducted himself during this difficult process, acknowledging that being subjected to such a serious allegation for this length of time has been hurtful to him and his family," read Liverpool's statement on the matter.

Firmino also had his own account published on the Liverpool website which included:

It is critical for football that tackling racism and all forms of discrimination is taken extremely seriously. As someone who has experienced racist abuse during my life, I know how damaging and hurtful it can be.

Now the process is concluded, I would like to place on record, for the avoidance of any doubt, I did not say the word, or a variation of the word, that was claimed and subsequently reported in the media. I did not use any language that referenced race. I did not - and would never - reference a person’s skin colour or culture, by means of insult, during a dispute or an argument.

There is no place for discrimination on a football pitch, or anywhere else in life for that matter.

I am pleased after exhaustive reviews of all the evidence, in this specific incident, the matter is resolved.

Everton's release said it "acknowledges and appreciates the thoroughness of the FA's investigation into the incident" and "will continue to offer the full support of the club to Mason and will make no further comment."