English FA says Cavani’s post not racist

The English Football Association has admitted that the Instagram post by Manchester United striker, Edinson Cavani, which earned him a three-match ban is not racist.

The Uruguayan was also charged £100,000 for the post which he shared in response to a congratulatory message from a friend.

The post which the 33-year-old shared in November was immediately deleted with an apology from the striker who said he never meant to “cause offense to anyone.”

He said, “The message I posted after the game on Sunday was intended as an affectionate greeting to a friend, thanking him for his congratulations after the game.

“The last thing I wanted to do was cause offense to anyone. I am completely opposed to racism and deleted the message as soon as it was explained that it can be interpreted differently. I would like to sincerely apologise for this.”

In a statement issued on Thursday, the FA admitted that the striker’s post was not racist.

The association also explained why it went ahead to issue the ban which made Cavani miss United’s games against Aston Villa and Manchester City.

“The commission were satisfied that the player wrote his reply in affectionate appreciation of a message from his Uruguayan friend and that it was not designed or intended to be racist or offensive either to his friend or others reading the content of the Instagram post,” the FA said.

“Such a conclusion was supported by all the available evidence relevant to the circumstances in which the post was made and having regard to the character and response of the player… However, it is not sufficient that the player simply had no such intent.”

The FA added that “a follower of English Premier League football would have understandably concluded that the words used were racially offensive.”