Alejandro Garnacho has avoided a disciplinary sanction by the English Football Association (FA) for an Instagram post directed at Manchester United teammate André Onana, but the player has been warned about his use of social media.
Argentina winger Garnacho posted a picture of Onana accompanied by two gorilla emojis after the goalkeeper saved a stoppage-time penalty against FC Copenhagen which sealed a 3-2 Champions League Group A win last month.
Garnacho’s post prompted widespread criticism on social media and led to calls for the player to be charged by the FA for using a racial stereotype in his post about Cameroon international Onana, who quickly defended his teammate by saying he had not been offended by the message.
The FA has in the past issued suspensions and fines to former United forward Edinson Cavani and Manchester City midfielder Bernardo Silva for their use of what was judged to be racially-loaded language on social media.
But after studying the post and communicating with Garnacho, the FA has now confirmed that no action will be taken against the player.
“We have concluded an investigation in relation to a recent post on Alejandro Garnacho’s social media. We sought the player’s observations as part of our investigation, and he explained that the use of two gorilla emojis was intended to highlight the strength and power of his teammates — specifically André Onana and Harry Maguire — following the pivotal roles that they played in Manchester United’s win over FC Copenhagen,” an FA spokesperson said.
“We are satisfied with Alejandro Garnacho’s explanation and the context that it provides, so we will not be issuing disciplinary proceedings on this occasion.
“However, we have reminded the player of his responsibilities around social media posts and the use of emojis in particular which can be interpreted in different ways.
“We also intend to liaise with Kick It Out and the PFA to discuss other potential issues around the use of emojis and similar forms of messaging, and education that can be provided about them.”