The Football Association said on Tuesday that Alejandro Garnacho would not be disciplined for using gorilla emojis in a tweet regarding his Manchester United teammate Andre Onana.
Last month, at Old Trafford, Onana saved a critical 1-0 Champions League group stage match against Copenhagen with a stoppage-time penalty save.
Later, Garnacho posted a picture of United players celebrating with Onana on X, the original name for Twitter. The message included two gorilla emojis.
Although the tweet was swiftly removed, the Cameroonian goalkeeper stood behind Garnacho, stating that he was attempting to demonstrate “power and strength” and that “this matter should go no further.”
The Argentine international will not face any consequences from the FA, which has previously penalized players for making discriminatory remarks on social media.
A representative for the FA said, “We have concluded an investigation in relation to a recent post on Alejandro Garnacho’s social media.”
“As part of our investigation, we asked the player for his observations. He clarified that the purpose of the two gorilla emojis was to emphasize the strength and power of his teammates, particularly Andre Onana and Harry Maguire, in light of their crucial roles in Manchester United’s victory over FC Copenhagen.
Alejandro Garnacho’s explanation and the context it offers have satisfied us, thus we won’t be initiating disciplinary action this time.
“But we have reminded the player of his responsibilities regarding social media posts, especially when it comes to the use of emojis, which can be interpreted in a variety of ways.”
The 19-year-old Garnacho has been added to the 23-man roster for United’s Wednesday match against Copenhagen in Denmark.