Edinson Cavani is set to be fined £100,000 and banned for three games after he deleted an Instagram post in November for what appeared at first to be a racial slur.
Following his heroics against Southampton in Manchester United’s 3-2 comeback, Cavani thanked a friend for congratulating him for his brace.
His reply read: “Gracias negrito.” This is loosely translated to “little black man”, according to a 2011 CNN article. In Uruguay, this is not considered a racial comment but rather as an affectionate term.
Cavani deleted the post and apologised for it in November. The FA will fine and ban Cavani officially on Thursday and will also instruct him to complete education on racism as part of his rehabilitation.
The former PSG star will also be allowed to defend himself in the form of a written submission to the FA which will hopefully prove that he did not mean to be offensive.
Man Utd Central sources report that despite Cavani’s believed innocence, he will not challenge the charge in solidarity with the fight against racism within football.
The three games that Cavani will miss come against Aston Villa, Manchester City and Watford.