Tottenham Hotspur attacking midfielder Dele Alli has been charged by the Football Association in relation to a social media post about coronavirus.
The England international, aged 23, published a Snapchat video in which he joked about putting on a face mask after seeing an Asian man.
Alli now faces a misconduct charge for an aggravated breach of FA Rule E3, which relates to bringing the game into disrepute through – among other things – indecent or insulting words or behaviour.
The aggravated nature of the breach, which is defined under FA Rule E3(2), arises because of an express or implied reference to race and/or colour and/or ethnic origin and/or nationality.
Alli has until Thursday, March 5 to respond to the charge.
If found guilty, he faces a large fine and a suspension.
The Spurs star deleted his post and released a new video on Chinese social media platform Weibo in which he apologised for the previous post. He said: “I let myself down and the club.”
