Edinson Cavani, the Manchester United striker, issued a statement apologizing for a social media post containing racist abuse.
And after Cavani scored a double that led Manchester United to a 3-2 win over Southampton on Sunday in the English Premier League;
One of his followers praised him on Instagram, and Kavani replied, "Thank you, nigger."
The Uruguayan international star said that what happened was just an overlap in meaning, and that he is totally against racism.
"The message I posted after the match on Sunday was a tender greeting to a friend, in which I thank him for his congratulations to me after the match," Cavani said in a statement published on the Manchester United club.
"The last thing I could mean is offending someone. I am totally against racism, and the message was deleted as soon as it became clear to me that it could be interpreted differently. I would like to sincerely apologize for this."
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A post shared by Edinson Cavani (@ cavaniofficial21)
Cavani had already deleted the post, but this does not mean that Cavani will get away with a suspension of at least 3 matches, according to the guidelines on social media of the Football Association.
"It is clear to us that there was no malicious intention behind Edinson's letter, and he deleted it as soon as he was informed of the possibility of misunderstanding it. Manchester United and all of its players are fully committed to combating racism," said Manchester United.
It should be noted that the same word was used by Luis Suarez in 2011, when he was a striker for Liverpool, while talking about Patrice Evra, the Manchester United player at this time, and Suárez received an 8-match suspension.