Manchester United hitman Edinson Cavani has been handed a three-game ban and a £100,000 ($136,000) fine by the English Football Association after admitting he used a racial term in an Instagram post in November.
Cavani, who signed for United in October on an initial one-year deal after departing Paris Saint-Germain, was criticized for the content of an Instagram post before United’s Premier League game with Southampton.
The criticism eventually forced Cavani to delete the post and issue an apology after it was discovered that he used the word “negrito” – which translates as “little black one” – in the message.
Cavani’s three-match ban means he’ll miss out on United’s Premier League clash with Aston Villa, as well as the League Cup semi-final with Manchester City and the FA Cup clash with Watford.
Reporting the news of Cavani’s suspension and fine, a statement from The Football Association read, “A comment posted on the Manchester United striker’s Instagram page was insulting, abusive, improper and brought the game into disrepute contrary to FA Rule E3.1.
“The post also constitutes an ‘aggravated breach’, which is defined in FA Rule E3.2, as it included reference, whether express or implied, to color and/or race and/or ethnic origin.”
The news of the ban prompted plenty of reaction on social media, with one fan offering little sympathy for the Uruguayan striker, saying, “Welcome to the @PremierLeague Cavani. You don’t do that sh*t in England and go scot-free.”
Others claimed the fine and ban were far too hefty given the nature of the supposed misdemeanor.
Bernardo Silva: Actual racism, one game banDele Alli: Actual racism, one game banWayne Hennessy: Nazi salute, no punishmentEdinson Cavani: Uses a term that’s considered friendly in his language to refer to his fiend, 3 match ban + 100k fine The FA is a disgrace.
From Cavani’s perspective he was literally just thanking his mate. If you wanna educate him on why it’s not acceptable and the differences in culture that’s fine. But a three game ban is just the FA overcompensating to make people think they actually give a shit about racism
The FA’s suspension and fine of Edinson Cavani is a perfect example of cultural racism. The FA have no understanding of the Uruguayan culture or its language, yet they choose to punish Cavani and patronize him by forcing him to take an anti-racism course. Just disgraceful.
Another suggested the punishment was uncalled for, saying, “Ridiculous. They took the word ‘negrito’ out of context. We use it to call our close friends. Instead, it should persecute institutional and media racism against players such as Marcus Rashford.”
Another offered a similar take, saying, “That is utterly ridiculous. The word basically means ‘mate’ in Uruguay. The word black in Spanish is ‘negro/a’ so are we gonna ban Spanish players who have ever said they have a black car because it is offensive in some contexts? F*ck sake.”
Political correctness is destroying society and free speech. I’m against hate speech, but let’s have some common sense. Unfortunately that is also on the decline
And another fan railed against political correctness in the UK, tweeting, “Political correctness is destroying society and free speech. I’m against hate speech, but let’s have some common sense. Unfortunately that is also on the decline.”
