André Onana has come to the defense of his Manchester United teammate, Alejandro Garnacho, following an investigation initiated by the English FA into a social media post made by the young Argentine. The post in question featured an image of two gorillas above a picture of the Cameroonian goalkeeper Onana.
Garnacho shared this post on X (formerly Twitter) shortly after Onana’s heroic save of a stoppage-time penalty, securing a 1-0 victory for Manchester United against FC Copenhagen in the Champions League on Wednesday. Once the 19-year-old became aware of potential racial connotations associated with the post, it was promptly deleted.
The FA is currently scrutinizing the incident and has reached out to Garnacho for his perspective on the matter. If charged by the FA for violating its rules, Garnacho may face a suspension.
On Thursday, Onana defended Garnacho in his own post on his Instagram handle.
He said, “People cannot choose what I should be offended by. I know exactly what [Garnacho] meant: power and strength. This matter should go no further.”
In a related context, it’s worth noting that in 2019, Manchester City midfielder Bernardo Silva received a one-match ban and a £50,000 fine from the FA after making a comparison between his teammate Benjamin Mendy and a Black cartoon character, despite a commission acknowledging the absence of racist intent.
Additionally, in 2021, Manchester United striker Edinson Cavani was handed a three-match suspension and fined £100,000 for a social media post containing a Spanish term that could have been misinterpreted as racist within the UK.