Dele charged with misconduct over coronavirus joke
Tottenham midfielder Dele Alli has been charged with misconduct over a social media post in which he appeared to joke about the coronavirus.
On February 9, Alli shared a video to his official Snapchat account, which showed him wearing a face mask in an airport departure lounge.
In the clip – captioned "Corona whattt [sic], please listen with volume" – Alli focused the camera on a man of Asian appearance before turning it on a bottle of antiseptic hand wash.
"This virus gunna have to be quicker than that to catch me," read the second caption.
Alli deleted the video and issued an apology on the Chinese social media platform Weibo.
Despite his contrition, Alli has been charged with a breach of FA Rule E3.
The FA statement confirming the charge read: "It is alleged that the Tottenham Hotspur midfielder's post breaches FA Rule E3(1) as it was insulting and/or improper and/or brought the game into disrepute.
"It is further alleged that the post constitutes an "Aggravated Breach", which is defined in FA Rule E3(2), as it included a reference, whether express or implied, to race and/or colour and/or ethnic origin and/or nationality."
Alli has until 5 March to respond to the charge.
