Liverpool fans were frustrated to find out this afternoon that Manchester City forward Bernardo Silva has been fined and banned for one match after his racist tweet about team-mate Benjamin Mendy, with the decision coming soon after the two teams met at Anfield on Sunday.
Silva, who is valued at £90 million (Transfermarkt), posted the tweet back in September but later deleted it after he was charged with misconduct in October. After awaiting a decision from the FA, the Portuguese international will now miss Manchester City’s game against Chelsea and receive a fine of £50,000.
The decision has annoyed a lot of Liverpool fans after Silva was allowed to play in the game at Anfield last week; where he grabbed a late consolation goal for Pep Guardiola’s side. Of course, Liverpool were not too affected by Silva’s performance, as they triumphed 3-1, but fans are still convinced of some sort of controversy after it was announced the former Monaco man would miss City’s next Premier League game.
Reaction from Reds fans to the timing of Silva’s ban from the FA can be seen in the tweets below.
Yet they think the FA are on our side..
— Éirinn (@Xabiiesque) November 13, 2019
Yes they did and one match ban is a joke
— MonsterAmongMen (@ParkTheBus8989) November 13, 2019
The FA is so corrupt and still they couldn’t prevent us from beating City.
— Mikeshashimi (@Mikeshashimi) November 13, 2019
Doesn’t matter. Beat them anyway. Hopefully Chelsea do the now.
— Chris O’Donoghue (@JJNICELY) November 13, 2019
Don’t know what the right number of matches is, but compare that to Elliot: both were supposed jokes in very poor taste, but the 16 year old is slammed while the star in his 20’s is slapped on the wrist, but not until he can play in the match of the season? Bad look for FA. $$$
— Carl Cordova (@carlcordova3) November 13, 2019
Only 1 match ?
— Proudodia (@proud_odia) November 13, 2019
Reds fans are clearly disappointed that Bernardo Silva was allowed to play on Sunday and feel that his ban should have been a lot harsher.
What do we think?
One Liverpool fan makes the valid comparison between Silva and Harvey Elliot; who received a 14-day ban from footballing activity for his derogatory impression of Harry Kane. Silva’s tweet was racist and only giving him a one-game ban feels like a slap on the wrist when a much more serious fine/ban should have perhaps been given out.
From a footballing perspective, it may harm City’s chances against an in-form Chelsea side next time out; with both sides looking to lessen the gap on Liverpool at the top of the Premier League.