FA will not charge Manchester United's Alejandro Garnacho over Andre Onana social media post

Garnacho said the social media post was celebrating fellow team mate Andre Onana's performance in their match against Copenhagen Credit: PA Images

The Football Association will not take action against Alejandro Garnacho, after he came under fire for a social media post.

The Manchester United winger used gorilla emoji's above a picture of Andre Onana after the goalkeeper’s injury-time penalty save against FC Copenhagen at Old Trafford.

The post was quickly deleted after followers began to point out the racial connotations, but Onana quickly came to his team-mate's defence.

In a social media post, he said: “People cannot choose what I should be offended by. I know exactly what [Garnacho] meant: power & strength. This matter should go no further.”

The goalkeeper defended his team mate, saying "people cannot choose what I should be offended by." Credit: PA Images

The FA has punished players in the past for making racial references on social networking sites but will not be taking any action against Garnacho.

An FA spokesperson said: “We sought the player’s observations as part of our investigation, and he explained that the use of two gorilla emojis was intended to highlight the strength and power of his team-mates – specifically Andre Onana and Harry Maguire – following the pivotal roles that they played in Manchester United’s win over FC Copenhagen.

“We are satisfied with Alejandro Garnacho’s explanation and the context that it provides, so we will not be issuing disciplinary proceedings on this occasion."

The FA did remind Garnacho's to be careful when posting online, and have promised to meet with anti-racism campaign group Kick It Out to see if any education can be provided to footballer's regarding the use of emojis.

Garnacho has been included in the squad that will face Copenhagen for the second time on Wednesday 8 November.

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