Tottenham head coach Jose Mourinho has said he has spoken to Dele Alli after the midfielder was accused of racism following a social media post about the coronavirus, describing it as an ‘easy conversation’.
Alli could be charged by the FA after a video of him sat in an airport departure lounge, in which he appeared to mock an Asian man claiming he was possibly infected with coronavirus, went viral. The FA has wrote to Alli and have requested his observations.
Speaking ahead of Tottenham’s match against Aston Villa, Mourinho said, quoted by the Guardian: “Of course I spoke with him about that.
“But for me it was a quite easy conversation, because he was very sorry about that thing. A mistake. It was never his intention to hurt, it was never his intention to offend. He immediately regretted and realised it was a young guy mistake, a young generation mistake.
“It was not a case of me being unhappy and him not understanding why I was unhappy. He regrets and that’s the best he can show. And I think to apologise is remarkable.”
Alli uploaded the video to his Snapchat before removing it soon after. He then posted a video to Chinese social networking site Weibo, where he apologised and admitted to his humour being misguided.
“It wasn’t funny and I realised that immediately and took it down,” he said. “I let myself down and the club.”
In similar circumstances, Manchester City midfielder Bernardo Silva received a one-match ban, £50,000 fine and was ordered to attend an awareness course after a tweet sent to teammate Benjamin Mendy posted from his account was considered an ‘aggravated breach’ of the FA’s rules regarding social media, after appearing to be racist towards his teammate.
Mourinho discussed his role in mentoring and lecturing Alli, stating that he is ‘not the FA’.
“I’m his manager. his friend,” he added. “I have to act as an educator and the best way to do it is immediately his reaction. Regret and apologise. So, game over.”