Andre Onana has defended Manchester United team-mate Alejandro Garnach after the winger used a gorilla emoji in a post about the goalkeeper.
The 19-year-old Argentina international posted a photo of United players congratulating Onana after the Cameroon goalkeeper saved a penalty in Tuesday’s 1-0 Champions League win over Copenhagen.
Garnach’s post on X, formerly known as Twitter, contained two wordless gorilla emoticons and was quickly deleted.
The social media post could land Garnach in hot water with the Football Association, but Onana wrote on the same platform: “People can’t choose what I should be offended by.
“I know exactly what @agarnacho7 meant: power and strength. This matter should not continue.”
However, the FA has in the past punished players for racial slurs on social media.
Former United striker Edinson Cavani was banned for three matches and fined £100,000 in 2020 for using the Spanish expression ‘Gracias negrito’ – which translates to ‘thanks little black’ – under a friend’s Instagram post.
Cavani also underwent two hours of face-to-face training for the comment, which was seen as a term of endearment in his native Uruguay.
In 2019, Bernardo Silva was banned for one match and fined £50,000 by the FA for his tweet directed at fellow Manchester City player Benjamin Mendy.
Silva tweeted a picture of a young Menda next to a cartoon mascot of Spanish candy brand Conguitos with the caption “Guess who?”
Cavani and Silva were fined by the FA after deleting their messages.