Sunderland issued a statement making it clear they are taking legal advice over the comments made by Smith, England's leading goalscorer who announced her retirement from international football in February.
The statement read: "We reported Kelly Smith to the FA as we believe that her public statement is a breach of FA regulations and the players' code of conduct
"Abby strongly refutes claims that there was any malicious intent in the challenge or that it was pre-meditated
Furthermore, she is taking legal advice regarding the nature of the remarks and as such it would be inappropriate to comment further at the present time."
The 36-year-old Smith had reacted with fury to the challenge which could sideline her for up to four months, accusing Holmes of deliberately setting out to her her on a post on www.kicka.com.
Smith wrote: ''I have thought about what to say about this tackle, but there is no hiding the fact: the tackle was malicious and designed to do one thing only - to do serious damage
''I have watched the tackle twice since on video, so this isn't an emotional verdict
It was a disgraceful tackle and one fully intended to hurt me
''I have had a lot of reaction from both my team-mates and others in the game and the verdict is the same: Holmes shouldn't be playing in this league
''Sure, she apologised as I got stretchered off and Sunderland subsequently apologised to Arsenal
That's all well and good, but she should be thinking more about how to tackle, not how to apologise
Those type of tackles end careers
Does she really want to end someone's career?
" She's clearly not good enough to be playing at this level and while she gets a three-match ban I, in effect, get a 15-game ban in the league as well as cup games on top.''
Source : PA
Source: PA