Manchester United youngster Alejandro Garnacho is set to face disciplinary action from the Football Association (FA) following a controversial social media post concerning his teammate Andre Onana. The 19-year-old deleted the post on Twitter, which came after Onana’s crucial penalty save helped secure a 1-0 victory against FC Copenhagen in the Champions League on Tuesday.
Although the FA has yet to announce an official investigation into Garnacho’s post, there have been previous instances where players have been penalized for violating the FA code of conduct on their personal social media accounts.
The post in question featured a picture of Garnacho and his teammates celebrating with Onana after his penalty save. The caption accompanying the photo contained two gorilla emojis.
Shortly after posting, Garnacho removed the caption and ultimately deleted the entire post.
In a surprising turn of events, Onana took to his Instagram account to defend Garnacho against any potential investigation. He claimed that there were no negative intentions behind the emojis and urged the FA to drop any further inquiry.
“People can’t choose what I should be offended by,” wrote Onana on his Instagram story. “Garnacho meant power and strength. This should go no further.”
Despite Onana’s defense, it is expected that Garnacho will still face consequences for his use of the “gorilla emoji” – a similar situation to previous incidents involving other players.
In 2020, Garnacho’s former teammate Edinson Cavani received a three-game ban for using the phrase “Gracias Negrito” in a social media post, which was deemed a breach of the FA code of conduct. Cavani’s message was intended as an affectionate greeting in his native Uruguay.
In another case, Manchester City’s Bernardo Silva was suspended for one match and fined £50,000 in 2019 after posting a childhood photograph of teammate Benjamin Mendy with alleged racist connotations.
Given these precedents, it is highly likely that Garnacho will face an FA investigation and subsequent sanctions for his use of the gorilla emojis, despite arguments that no negativity was intended.
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