Tottenham midfielder Dele Alli has been charged with misconduct over his social media post regarding the coronavirus outbreak, the Football Association has announced.
Alli posted a video on Snapchat in relation to the deadly virus while also singling out an Asian man in an airport. The FA wrote to him seeking his observations and has now decided to charge him with misconduct.
An FA statement read: “Dele Alli has been charged with misconduct for a breach of FA Rule E3 in relation to a social media post. It is alleged that the Tottenham Hotspur midfielder’s post breaches FA Rule E3(1) as it was insulting and/or improper and/or brought the game into disrepute.
“It is further alleged that the post constitutes an “Aggravated Breach”, which is defined in FA Rule E3(2), as it included a reference, whether express or implied, to race and/or colour and/or ethnic origin and/or nationality. He has until Thursday 5 March 2020 to provide a response.”
The offending video was uploaded by Alli to Snapchat earlier this month. It showed him wearing a face mask in an airport departure lounge and had the title: “Corona whattt, please listen with volume.” The video then cut to an unsuspecting man of Asian appearance before panning to a bottle of antiseptic hand wash, underneath which appeared the caption: “This virus gunna have to be quicker than that to catch me.”
Alli deleted the video and posted an apology to the Chinese social media network Weibo. “It wasn’t funny and I realised that immediately and took it down,” Alli said. “I let myself down and the club. I don’t want you to have that impression of me because it wasn’t funny … It isn’t something that should be joked about. I’m sending all my love and all my thoughts and prayers to everyone in China.”
Any ruling would be subject to an appeal which means the situation could still drag on into the middle of March. Alli would have been hoping a swift apology might have been enough to avoid a charge, but he is now facing sanction, with the FA setting precedent earlier this season when banning Manchester City’s Bernardo Silva for a similar offence.