After Manchester United winger Alejandro Garnacho superimposed gorilla emojis over a photo of Andre Onana’s penalty save on Tuesday night, Onana said any prospective disciplinary action against Garnacho should “go no further.”
Onana and Manchester United teammates celebrated his late penalty save in their 1-0 Champions League win over FC Copenhagen on Tuesday, as captured in a photo provided by Garnacho. There are two gorilla emojis placed beside the image.
The 19-year-old removed the message after being informed of the possible racial overtones, but United has been contacted by the Football Association. There is still a chance that the governing body will charge Garnacho with violating their policies on racially insensitive social media remarks.
Onana posted a photo to Instagram showing the celebrations after he saved a penalty and stated, “People cannot determine what I should be offended by. Strength and power; that’s what @garnacho7 was getting at. There’s no need to pursue this any further.
The keeper later shared a second selfie with Garnacho in which they appeared to be jubilant.
Edinson Cavani of United was banned for three games in 2020 for sending the message “Gracias Negrito” to a buddy who had congratulated him on a goal. The Uruguayan was also sentenced to pay a fine of £100,000 and attend in-person education on the subject.
Bernardo Silva was fined £50,000 and suspended for one game for tweeting a photo of a young Benjamin Mendy next to an obscene logo for the Spanish candy brand Conguitos. Mendy said in public that he didn’t see anything wrong with the post, but his friend was nevertheless penalized.