Bernardo Silva has been suspended by the FA for one game after tweeting comparing teammate Benjamin Mendy to a cartoon character.
As well as the one game ban, which will see the Portuguese midfielder miss the game against Chelsea after the international break, he's been fined £50,000 and will be made to complete a face-to-face educational course.
The FA's statement said, "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.
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"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."
Silva posted the image of the Conguitos chocolates character alongside left back Mendy following City's 8-0 win against Watford on September 21st.
He was charged with an "aggravated breach" of the FA's rules on social media as the tweet referenced Mendy's race, despite the midfielder taking down the post.
Following the original tweet the French full-back replied with his own post that showed he was okay with what his teammate had posted.
Instead of apologising at the time, despite clearly causing offence to many on social media, the former Monaco and Benfica player showed his frustration at not being able to have a joke with his friend:
The FA did back up the players claim that it was a joke but went on to say the public nature of the platform it was shared on was an issue, saying, "The player did not himself intend the post to be insulting or in any way racist.
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"It is clear that the tweet was intended to be no more than a joke between close friends.
"However, this was not a private jocular communication between two friends.
"The post was on a social media platform exposed to the 600,000 followers of a high-profile and well-respected professional footballer."
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