André Onana has spoken up for Alejandro Garnacho, a colleague at Manchester United, following the English FA’s inquiry into an Argentinean’s social media post that included two gorillas over a photo of the Cameroon custodian.
After Onana stopped a stoppage-time penalty to give United a 1-0 victory over FC Copenhagen in the Champions League on Wednesday, Garnacho posted on X, formerly Twitter.
Shortly after the 19-year-old was informed by the club of potential racial overtones, it was removed.
The FA has requested Garnacho’s observations while it investigates the event.
Onana defended Garnacho on Thursday in a social media post of his own.
“People cannot choose what I should be offended by,” Onana wrote on Instagram. “I know exactly what [Garnacho] meant: power and strength. This matter should go no further.”
If Garnacho is accused of breaking any FA rules, he may be suspended.
Despite a commission’s acceptance that he didn’t mean for it to be racist, Manchester City footballer Bernardo Silva was fined £50,000 and banned for one game in 2019 for comparing teammate Benjamin Mendy to a Black cartoon figure.
Edinson Cavani, a striker for United, was fined £100,000 and suspended for three matches in 2021 for using a Spanish phrase in a social media post that would have been construed as racist in the United Kingdom.