Andre Onana responds to Alejandro Garnacho’s deleted tweet amid FA investigation

Andre Onana has come out and stated that ‘people can’t choose what I should be offended by’ after the Football Association began investigating a deleted social media post from Alejandro Garnacho.

The 19-year-old deleted a post on social media platform X, formally known as Twitter, which included gorilla emojis.

Garnacho deleted the post once he was advised of the potential racial connotations involved, according to the Manchester Evening News, but the FA has been aware of the incident and could yet charge the winger with a breach of their guidelines around racially sensitive social media posts.

The report added that the FA have now been in touch with the club to get Garnacho’s observations over the social media post.

Onana was the saviour on the Champions League night after saving a last-minute penalty from Copenhagen to ensure victory.

Since then, the goalkeeper has come out in support of his teammate and stated that the matter should not result in a ban.

“People cannot choose what I should be offended by,” began Onana. “I know exactly what Garnacho meant: power and strength. This matter should go no further.”

United face up against Manchester City this weekend. It is not yet known what the FA will decide in relation to a possible suspension for Garnacho.

In a previous incident, involving Benjamin Mendy and Bernardo Silva, a three-game ban was still issued to Silva after he compared his former teammate to an image from Spanish company Conguitos that had been criticised for racial undertones, despite Mendy replying with laughing emojis to the social media post.

Edinson Cavani also received a three-game ban when he was at Old Trafford for a similar incident in 2020. The striker also paid a £100,000 fine after reposting a message to a friend on Instagram. He wrote in Spanish, “gracias, negrito” – a term that can be interpreted as racist in the United Kingdom.

Whilst it is a phrase widely used as a term of endearment in South America, it is considered to carry racial connotations elsewhere, including England, which prompted the FA to investigate Cavani’s post.