Joey Barton appears to have escaped punishment over his online comments about Paris Saint-Germain defender Thiago Silva after the French Football Federation's ethics council determined that no ruling could be made in the case.

Barton provoked a storm when he used the social networking site Twitter to brand Silva an 'overweight ladyboy' earlier this month.

The FFF's National Council of Ethics summoned him to a hearing which took place today, but it ended with no ruling be made in the case.