Bernardo Silva writes to FA expressing regret about tweet

MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Manchester City midfielder Bernardo Silva has written a letter to the English Football Association, expressing regret for any unintentional offense caused by a tweet he posted which compared teammate Benjamin Mendy to the character on a packet of Conguitos chocolates.

Mendy issued a supporting statement with the letter Silva sent to the FA on Thursday, saying he did not take offense.

The FA has already written to City requesting the club’s observations about the tweet, which was posted on Sunday and has since been deleted. Anti-discriminatory body Kick It Out has called on the FA to take action, referring to the contents of the post as a racist stereotype.

Both Mendy and the character on the packet of chocolates are black.

City manager Pep Guardiola has strongly defended Silva on two occasions this week, saying Friday that it was a “simple joke” between Silva and Mendy, who are close friends, and that people would be “completely wrong” to think the tweet had any racist undertones.

Guardiola says “maybe Bernardo is going to take a lesson and it is not going to happen again.”