This archive report was first published on 13 November 2019.
On November 13, 2019, the Football Association announced that Manchester City star Bernardo Silva had been suspended for one match and fined £50,000 (Sh7 million) for a tweet he posted comparing teammate Benjamin Mendy with a black cartoon character.
The incident occurred in September when Silva tweeted an image of a young Mendy alongside an image of the character representing the Spanish chocolate peanut brand Conguitos, before deleting it 46 minutes later.
There was no hearing after Silva admitted the misconduct charge, and acknowledged some people may be offended by the 'historical connotations of the Conguitos character'. The FA Commission report stated that Silva did not intend the post to be insulting or racist, but rather a joke between close friends.
However, the report noted that the post was on a social media platform exposed to Silva's 600,000 followers, making it a public communication rather than a private joke.
As a result, Silva will miss a tough home match with third-placed Chelsea on November 23, which could be a crucial game for Manchester City as they struggle to keep pace with leaders Liverpool.
