Dele Alli is facing a possible suspension after the FA opened an investigation into a social media post made by the Tottenham Hotspur midfielder.
The England international appeared to mock an Asian man and claim he might be infected with the coronavirus in a video posted on to Snapchat on Saturday night.
Alli had deleted the video by Sunday night and apologised for his actions, stating:
“It wasn’t funny and I realised that immediately and took it down.
“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.”
The FA have written to the 23-year old asking for his observations.
Alli is being investigated to see whether he has provoked an infringement of the FA’s rule E3 (1) which ‘prohibits players from creating social media posts considered ‘improper’ or which brings the game into disrepute.’
There will also likely to be an explanation sought in regards to rule E3 (2), with any reference to “ethnic origin; colour; race; nationality; faith; gender; sexual orientation or disability” which may be an “aggravating factor” in a post can be found to have broken the rules.
Alli may be looking at a minimum of a one game suspension if he is charged.
