Alejandro Garnacho 'gorilla' emoji tweet: Onana defends social media post with FA probe likely

Kieran Francis

Alejandro Garnacho 'gorilla' emoji tweet: Onana defends social media post with FA probe likely image

Manchester United talent Alejandro Garnacho is facing FA disciplinary action after a controversial social media post about team-mate Andre Onana.

The 19-year-old put the since-deleted post on his Twitter after Onana's heroic penalty save helped the Red Devils to a 1-0 win against FC Copenhagen in the Champions League on Tuesday.

While the FA haven't announced an official probe into Garnacho's post, there are several examples of the governing body punishing players for breaching the FA code of conduct on their personal social media accounts.

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What did Alejandro Garnacho post on social media?

Following Onana's match-winning penalty save against Copenhagen, Garnacho posted a picture of himself and teammates celebrating with the Cameroonian goalkeeper.

Accompanying the picture was a caption featuring two gorilla emojis.

Around 15 minutes later, Garnacho removed the caption and then deleted the post.

Andre Onana defends Garnacho's post

Once it became clear Garnacho's post could be the instigator for an FA investigation, Onana used his Instagram account to defend his Man Utd team-mate.

Onana insisted there were no negative connotations in Garnacho's tweet and asked for any investigation to cease.

"People can’t choose what I should be offended by," Onana wrote on his Instagram story.

"Garnacho meant power and strength.

"This should go no further."

Will Alejandro Garnacho face an FA probe?

It is likely Garnacho will be sanctioned for his 'gorilla emoji' post despite claims that no negativity was meant by it - with several other similar examples occurring in recent times

Garnacho's former Man Utd team-mate Edinson Cavani was banned for three games in 2020 after writing 'Gracias Negrito' to a friend on social media.

Cavani's message was deemed in breach of the FA code of conduct even though 'Negrito' is sometimes used as an affectionate greeting in the player's native Uruguay.

Manchester City playmaker Bernardo Silva was suspended for one match and fined 50,000 in 2019 after he posted a childhood photo of team-mate Benjamin Mendy with alleged racist connotations.

Kieran Francis

Kieran Francis Photo

Kieran Francis is a senior editor at The Sporting News based in Melbourne, Australia. He started at Sportal.com.au before being a part of the transition to Sporting News in 2015. Just prior to the 2018 World Cup, he was appointed chief editor of Goal.com in Australia. He has now returned to The Sporting News where his passions lay in football, AFL, poker and cricket - when he is not on holiday.