Dele Ali Banned for One Match over Social Media Post on Covid-19

Dele Ali Banned for One Match over Social Media Post on Covid-19
  •  Also fined £50,000, to miss restart of the season against Man Utd

Tottenham midfielder Dele Alli has been suspended for one match by the Football Association over a post on social media about coronavirus.

Alli, 24, put a video on Snapchat in February in which he joked about the outbreak and appeared to mock an Asian man.

The England international has also been fined £50,000 and ordered to under take an education course.

He will miss Spurs’ match at home to Manchester United on 19 June.

The video posted by Alli showed him wearing a face mask in an airport lounge, before moving the camera to show a man of Asian appearance, and then zooming in on a bottle of antiseptic hand wash.

In his hearing, Alli said that he had “very quickly” realised the video may have the “potential to cause upset” and deleted it before catching his flight.

However, he said he had been “betrayed” by a friend who sold the video on his private account to the media.

In a statement, Alli said: “In response to the FA decision, I would like to apologise again for any offence caused by my behaviour.

“It was an extremely poorly judged joke about a virus that has now affected us more than we could ever have imagined.

“I’m grateful that the FA has confirmed that my actions were not racist because I despise racism of any kind. We all need to be mindful of the words and actions we use and how they can be perceived by others,” concludes Alli.

More than 41,000 people have died with coronavirus in the UK, and more than 416,000 worldwide.

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