Onana SLAMS FA investigation into Garnacho social media post after Man Utd win
Suraj Radia
- 26 Oct 2023 18:54 BST
- 3 min read
Manchester United could be set to face ANOTHER controversial issue after the FA contacted Alejandro Garnacho over a social media post regarding teammate Andre Onana.
Garnacho could face a ban after posting a picture to Twitter of him celebrating the win over FC Copenhagen with Onana and teammates and using two gorilla emojis as the caption.
The FA are aware of the post and have reportedly sought Garnacho’s observations on it despite the 19-year-old deleting it inside 15 minutes of it being posted, although that would not guarantee avoidance of any punishment according to rules.
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Onana himself commented on the speculation that Garnacho would be investigated by the FA, posting a story on Instagram of the same picture and writing: “People cannot choose what I should be offended by.
“I know exactly what Garnacho meant: power and strength. This matter should go no further.”
The FA’s rule state that social media posts including comments that make a reference to a persons' ethnic origin, colour, race, nationality, faith, gender, sexual orientation or disability could be grounds for punishment.
The FA’s previous bans for social media violations
Bans have previously been handed to players in similar situations, including United stars, with former striker Edinson Cavani suspended for three games and fined £100,000 in 2020 for using the term ‘negrito’ in reply to a friend on Instagram.
The word is used as a term of endearment in Latin America but the connotations led to the FA’s involvement, having also banned Luis Suarez for using it against Patrice Evra in 2011.
In 2019, Manchester City star Bernardo Silva was also suspended for one game and fined £50,000 for a Twitter post about then-teammate Benjamin Mendy.
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Silva posted a picture of Mendy next to a cartoon of a popular Spanish brand of chocolate, hinting to the resemblance between the pair, which led to a charge.
🔴🇦🇷 FA have been investigating into Garnacho’s social media post in which he used gorilla emojis over a picture of Andre Onana's penalty save.
🇨🇲 Onana replies: “People can’t choose what I should be offended by. Garnacho meant power and strenght. This should go no further”. pic.twitter.com/k6kea9Iwgz— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) October 26, 2023
The Portuguese international responded to the punishment by posting “can't even joke with a friend these days.”
