Dele Alli is facing a possible Football Association charge over a social media post in which he appeared to mock an Asian man and claimed he might be infected with the coronavirus.

The FA has written to the Tottenham midfielder asking for his observations, the first step in a process that could end in a charge of misconduct.

‘It wasn’t funny’: Tottenham’s Dele Alli apologises over coronavirus video Read more

Alli is being investigated for an infringement of the FA’s rule E3(1) which prohibits players from creating social media posts considered “improper” or which bring the game into disrepute. He is also likely to be sought to explain his actions with relation to rule E3(2), which states that reference to “ethnic origin; colour; race; nationality; faith; gender; sexual orientation or disability” can be considered an “aggravating factor” should a post be found to have broken the rules.

The video was uploaded by Alli to Snapchat on Saturday night. It showed him wearing a face mask in an airport departure lounge and had the title: “Corona whattt, please listen with volume.” The video then cut to an unsuspecting man of Asian appearance before panning to a bottle of antiseptic hand wash, underneath which appeared the caption: “This virus gunna have to be quicker than that to catch me.”

Alli deleted the video and by Sunday night had posted an apology to the Chinese social media network Weibo. “It wasn’t funny and I realised that immediately and took it down,” Alli said. “I let myself down and the club. I don’t want you to have that impression of me because it wasn’t funny … It isn’t something that should be joked about. I’m sending all my love and all my thoughts and prayers to everyone in China.”

Alli is believed to be on holiday in Dubai while Spurs enjoy a winter break from the Premier League. They next play Aston Villa on Sunday.

If the England player is charged he may face the same punishment as Bernardo Silva. The Manchester City midfielder was found to have contravened rule E3 this season, after a tweet in which the Portuguese appeared to compare his teammate Benjamin Mendy to the caricature of a black boy found on the packaging of a Spanish confectionary brand.

Silva, who claimed to have been joking with his friend but eventually admitted to the charge, was banned from playing for one match, fined £50,000, and asked to attend an awareness course.