Bernardo Silva can take things easy, being granted extra time to reply to his FA charge.
Manchester City midfielder Bernardo Silva received an extension until October 21 to respond to the football association (FA) charge. The charge was reported regarding his racially insensitive tweet to his city’s fellow teammate Benjamin Mendy.
The Midfielder last month tweeted later on deleted the post in which there was a photo of a young Mendy and a dated image from Conguitos, a Spanish confectionery brand that has been found faulty for having racist connotations. The post was captioned “Guess who?”.
A week ago, the FA charged the 25-year-old playmaker with an alleged breach of FA Rule E3 on account of the post being “insulting and/or improper and/or [bringing] the game into disrepute.
Furthermore, It was supposed that the offense accounts for an “aggravated breach” because it included “reference, whether expressed or implied, to race and/or colour and/or ethnic origin”.
Silva was given time to provide a response until October 9, Wednesday. But an extension of about 12 days was granted to him following an application to the chairman of the judicial panel. It is till the given date that he is without any fine or punishment, once found guilty he could face a fine and/or a suspension and be enrolled in an education course.
This year, FA increased its minimum ban for example of racist abuse during the match to six games. But, this does not automatically apply to social media posts.
Silva and Mendy both have been friends since they were teammates at Monaco and later on each one signed for Manchester City in 2017. Silva as a part of the response to FA expressed the regret for any hurt or dishonored unintentionally caused, Mendy, on the other hand, issued support on his team-mate’s behalf insisting that he took no offense over the post.
Silva was defended well by his manager Pep Guardiola and forward Raheem Sterling who supported his character in the post his controversial tweet, which was further condemned by the Anti-discrimination pressUre group kick it out.
Pep Guardiola defended Silva, saying:
“If something happens it will be a mistake because Bernardo is an exceptional person.
“Bernardo is one of the loveliest people I’ve met in my life. He speaks four or five languages that are the best way to understand how open-minded he is.
“One of his best friends is Mendy. He’s like a brother. He took a picture of Benjamin when he was young and related it with this cartoon, quite similar for the image.”
Author’s Take:
Bernardo Silva has already sent an apology letter to FA for any offense caused by the controversial tweet. Benjamin Mendy also issued a statement of support for him. He has time till October 22, FA Is yet to find 25 years old guilty of his behavior. If that is the case he could be suspended for six domestic matches that could be a severe blow to the City and the players.
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