Manchester United striker Edinson Cavani has been officially been charged by with misconduct by the F.A. following his Instagram post which contained a racial term.
The 33-year-old used the term “negrito” when replying to a friend’s comment on one of his posts following his two goals in Manchester United’s 3-2 victory over Southampton in the Premier League in November.
Cavani now faces a ban of up to three games despite United insisting the player was unaware of the negative connotations that the word carries in the U.K.
The Uruguayan deleted the post and apologised and now has until January 4th to respond.
Following the charge United issued a statement saying “Manchester United and all of our players are fully committed to the fight against racism and we will continue to work with the FA – along with other governing bodies and organisations, and through our own campaigns – in that regard.
“We note the FA decision today to charge Edinson Cavani for his social media reply to a friend’s message of congratulations following the Southampton game.
“Edinson and the club were clear that there was absolutely no malicious intent behind the message, which he deleted and apologised for as soon as he was informed that it could have been misconstrued.
“The player and the club will now consider the charge and respond to the FA accordingly.”