Bernardo Silva Handed One-Game Ban For Racial Mendy Tweet

The 25-year-old Portuguese international has also been mandated to complete a face-to-face education course following the tweet.

The former Monaco playmaker tweeted and compared an image of a young Mendy to a character on a packet of Conguitos, a well-known sweet brand available in Portugal in September.

After a swift backlash from fans on Twitter, Silva deleted the tweet and posted a second tweet which said, "Can't even joke with a friend these days... You Guys..."

Many organizations condemned the act including Football anti-discriminatory body ‘Kick It Out’ as they urged the FA to act accordingly, adding that "racist stereotypes are never acceptable as 'banter'"

An FA statement on Wednesday read: "Bernardo Silva has been suspended for one first-team competitive fixture, fined £50,000 and must complete face-to-face education after admitting a breach of FA Rule E3.

"The Manchester City midfielder's social media activity on 22 September 2019 breached FA Rule E3(1), as it was insulting and/or improper and/or brought the game into disrepute, and constituted an "Aggravated Breach", which is defined in FA Rule E3(2), as it included reference, whether expressed or implied, to race and/or colour and/or ethnic origin."

It added: "The player did not himself intend the post to be insulting or in any way racist. It is clear that the tweet was intended to be no more than a joke between close friends.

"However, this was not a private communication between two friends.

"The post was on a social media platform exposed to the 600,000 followers of a high-profile and well-respected professional footballer.

"Many persons viewing the imagery depicted in the tweet would have taken offence to the content as being insulting by reference to race, colour and ethnic origin in a way that unquestionably brings the game of football into disrepute."

Silva will miss Manchester City’s home game against Chelsea on November 23 after the international break.