Silva charged over Mendy tweet

LONDON: Manchester City’s Bernardo Silva has been charged with misconduct by the Football Association over a controversial social media post comparing teammate Benjamin Mendy with a black cartoon character.

The Portuguese midfielder last month tweeted an image of a young Mendy alongside an image of the character representing the Spanish chocolate peanut brand Conguitos. He deleted the post but has now been charged.

A statement from the football governing body on Wednesday read: “Bernardo Silva has been charged with misconduct for a breach of FA Rule E3 in relation to a social media post on September 22, 2019. It is alleged that the Manchester City player’s activity breaches FA Rule E3(1) as it was insulting and/or improper and/or brought the game into disrepute.” Mendy and Silva have been teammates since 2016, having spent a year together at Monaco before they both moved to City the following year.