Manchester City midfielder Bernardo Silva has been suspended for one match and fined £50,000 following a controversial social media post regarding his club teammate Benjamin Mendy, the Football Association (FA) said on Wednesday.
The Portuguese in September had tweeted – and subsequently deleted a photo of Mendy as a child alongside an old image from Spanish company ‘Conguitos’ that has been criticised for having racist connotations, with the caption: “Guess who?”
Bernardo Silva gets one-match ban and £50,000 fine for racially-offensive social media post relating to team-mate Benjamin Mendy. pic.twitter.com/A6yG13hPdz
— Deji Faremi (@deejayfaremi) November 13, 2019
Silva, 25, had defended his actions saying: “Can’t even joke with a friend these days… you guys…”
A statement from the FA read: “Bernardo Silva has been suspended for one first team competitive fixture, fined £50,000 and must complete face-to-face education after admitting a breach of FA Rule E3.
“The Manchester City midfielder’s social media activity on 22 September 2019 breached FA Rule E3(1), as it was insulting and/or improper and/or brought the game into disrepute, and constituted an “Aggravated Breach”, which is defined in FA Rule E3(2), as it included reference, whether expressed or implied, to race and/or colour and/or ethnic origin.”
As part of Silva’s submission to the FA, Mendy wrote a letter insisting no offence had been taken.
Manchester City will host Chelsea in the Premier League after the ongoing international break on November 23rd.
