Kick It Out has called on the Football Association to take action against a “discriminatory” tweet by Bernardo Silva in reference to his Manchester City teammate Benjamin Mendy.

FA looking into tweet posted by Manchester City’s Bernardo Silva Read more

The FA is aware of the post by Silva, who has been accused of using a “racist stereotype” by Kick It Out, and has written to City asking for their observations. If the game’s governing body decides to charge Silva, the 25-year-old would be at risk of being banned for six games if found guilty of racism.

The FA in July introduced a minimum six-game ban for anyone found guilty of racist abuse during matches but that does not automatically apply to social media.

However, the FA’s position when discrimination takes place on social media is to recommend match-based sanctions as a starting point for an independent regulatory commission and it would recommend at least a six-game ban. The regulatory commission has the power to increase or decrease that depending on mitigating circumstances in the event of a guilty verdict.

Kick It Out said: “We are extremely disappointed to see the tweet posted by Bernardo Silva, which has since been deleted.

“Racist stereotypes are never acceptable as ‘banter’, and we’re shocked that someone who is a role model to millions has failed to understand the discriminatory nature of his post.

The tweet sent by Manchester City’s Bernardo Silva. Photograph: Twitter

“The FA have been notified and we believe that retrospective action should be taken, including mandatory education – which is vital to challenge offensive behaviour such as this.”

Having deleted the initial post, Silva later tweeted: “Can’t even joke with a friend these days... You guys …”, for which he was heavily criticised on the social media platform.

It is not the first time Silva has appeared to reference Mendy’s skin colour on social media. A video from an earlier date has also emerged of Silva asking the French left-back why he was naked. Mendy is wearing a black T-shirt in the clip.

Mendy and Silva are good friends and have played with each other since 2016, first at Monaco and then, from 2017, at Manchester City after both players joined the club that summer. Mendy did not seem to be offended by the tweet, replying with three smileys, an emoji with clapping hands and the words “1-0 for you will see”.