Edinson Cavani’s celebrations and praise after scoring a double to seal Manchester United’s 3-2 comeback victory against Southampton on Sunday was short lived. The Uruguayan striker is facing an FA investigation and scrutiny after posting an Instagram story that some perceived as racist. Here is the Cavani Instagram post in question, which was deleted shortly after he posted it.
A fan posted a story congratulating Cavani on his performance to which the Manchester United striker replied saying, “gracias negrito.” This loosely translates to “thanks little black boy” and is a term used affectionately in parts of South America.
Many of Cavani’s followers aren’t from South America and were either confused or angered at his post, believing it to be racist. The post was soon deleted.
Cavani and United issued statements on Monday apologizing for the incident and said there weren’t any racist intentions behind the post.
“The message I posted after the match on Sunday was intended as an affectionate greeting to a friend, thanking him for his congratulations after the game,” Cavani said. “The last thing I wanted to do was cause offence 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 apologize for this.”
Manchester United backed up their striker’s claim that was posted to the club’s website.
“It is clear to us that there was absolutely no malicious intent behind Edinson’s message and he deleted it as soon as he was informed that it could be misconstrued. Edinson has issued an apology for any unintentional offence caused. Manchester United and all of our players are fully committed to the fight against racism,” read the club statement.
If the FA decides to punish Cavani for his actions he could face up to a three-match ban. Watford striker Troy Deeney spoke with talkSPORT and said he thinks Cavani didn’t mean to insult anyone but should still be given a ban and be educated on the matter.
“I want to know if the FA are educating players when they come here.”
“I don’t think Cavani has meant to insult anyone, he just hasn’t understood.”“It needs to be a 3-game ban with a form of education for him.”
Troy Deeney has his say on #MUFC’s Cavani & his Instagram post. pic.twitter.com/JHOFLvDqMw
— talkSPORT (@talkSPORT) November 30, 2020
