In January 2018 Beardsley was placed on leave by Newcastle following allegations of racism. In March 2019, Newcastle confirmed that he had left the club, and the Football Association later confirmed they were investigating him. He was subsequently charged with three counts of using racist language to players. In September 2019 he was suspended from all football-related activity for 32 weeks after being found guilty by the FA of making racist comments to players. Beardsley said he was "surprised and disappointed" at being found guilty. The FA panel said: "Even if he did not intend to do so, he plainly did cause offence." However, the panel said it did not believe Beardsley was racist, stating: "We are satisfied that Mr Beardsley is not a racist in the sense of being ill-disposed to persons on grounds of their race or ethnicity."