Manchester City's Portuguese midfielder Bernardo Silva has been suspended for one match and fined 50,000 pounds ($63,980) over a Twitter post concerning French team mate Benjamin Mendy, the Football Association (FA) said on Wednesday.
Silva was criticised by anti-racism body Kick It Out after posting a message on Sept. 22 comparing Mendy to a chocolate-covered peanut character used in the logo for Conguitos, a confectionary brand popular in Spain and Portugal, before deleting it.
"Silva has been suspended for one first team competitive fixture, fined 50,000 pounds and must complete face-to-face education after admitting a breach of FA Rule E3," the FA said in a statement.
The governing body of English soccer added that his social media activity had breached FA Rule E3(1) as it was "insulting and/or improper and/or brought the game into disrepute".
It also "constituted an "Aggravated Breach"... as it included reference, whether expressed or implied, to race and/or colour and/or ethnic origin", the FA added.
Can’t even joke with a friend these days... You guys... 🤦🏻♂️
— Bernardo Silva (@BernardoCSilva) September 22, 2019
Premier League champions Manchester City, who are fourth with 25 points from 12 games and trail leaders Liverpool by nine points, next host third-placed Chelsea on Nov. 23.