Tottenham and England star Dele Alli CHARGED by the FA with misconduct after making joke about the coronavirus outbreak while appearing to mock an Asian man
- Dele Alli landed himself in hot water after appearing to make light of coronavirus
- He filmed an Asian man and suggested he was scared of catching the virus
- The Tottenham star then took the video down and apologised for any offence
- The England international has been charged by the FA for his social media video
Dele Alli has been charged with misconduct by the Football Association following an investigation into his social media video that made jokes about the coronavirus outbreak.
The Tottenham and England midfielder, 23, breached FA Rule E3(1) as the post was deemed ‘insulting and/or improper and/or brought the game into disrepute’.
Alli now has until March 5 to submit his response to the misconduct charge.
Dele Alli landed himself in hot water after posting an insensitive video about coronavirus
In the video, he appeared to mock an Asian man and snapped a picture of some handwash
The 23-year-old has since taken the video down, and then posted an apology video on Weibo
The FA have wrote to Alli asking for his observations as part of the investigation and their conclusion found that ‘the post constitutes an ‘Aggravated Breach’, which is defined in FA Rule E3(2), as it included a reference, whether express or implied, to race and/or colour and/or ethnic origin and/or nationality.’
Another consideration for the FA was whether the post was intended for public consumption. Alli posted the video on his private Snapchat account, which can only be accessed by people he has verified.
However, the video in question was leaked to the Daily Star on Sunday, and Football Against Racism in Europe executive director Piara Powar said recently: ‘At the very least it’s a deeply insensitive joke. The FA are right to investigate and potentially take action.’
Manchester City’s Bernardo Silva was banned for one game and fined £50,000 in November for a post in which he compared team-mate Benjamin Mendy to the cartoon character used by chocolate brand Conguitos.
An FA commission accepted Bernardo had not intended to be racist, but still suspended him. The posts by Pope and Bernardo were made on Twitter, which is a public forum.
Alli posted the private video on Saturday. It showed a man of Asian descent alongside the caption: ‘Corona whatttttt, please listen with volume.’
In the next part of the Snapchat story, the midfielder wears a mask while appearing to feign concern. He then shows a bottle of handwash, accompanied by the caption: ‘This virus gunna have to be quicker than that to catch me.’
Having already said sorry, Alli then posted a second video apology on Chinese social media site Weibo but that was not enough to avoid an FA charge.
Alli has been in excellent form for Tottenham since the arrival of Jose Mourinho. He had been tipped for an England recall for next month’s friendlies against Italy and Denmark, but the FA punishment could dent his hopes.
The Tottenham star and England international whipped up the storm while on the winter break
Alli, who has been taking genuine precautions against the killer virus while on holiday over the winter break, removed the video after two minutes, apparently realising his error of judgment.
Spurs have important links to Asia. On the club’s website, Kumho Tyres, Fun 888 and HSBC are listed as official partners.
A spokesperson for Kick It Out said: ‘We were disappointed to see the video recently posted by Dele Alli on his social media. However, we are pleased that Dele has acknowledged his mistake and apologised for the incident.
‘Social media provides a welcome and powerful platform for players to connect with fans in a positive way. But racist stereotypes are not acceptable as banter to be broadcast on social media.’