London (AFP)

The English Football Association (FA) formally accused Uruguayan striker Edinson Cavani on Thursday of using a racist term in a quickly erased social media post, which resulted in him facing a minimum three-match suspension.

The former Paris SG center-forward replied "gracias negrito" (thank you little black guy) to a friend's comment under a photo he posted on his Instagram account, after a 3-2 win over Southampton, during of which he had scored a double.

The message was quickly erased and the player, supported by his club, assured that it was an affectionate term and that did not have a pejorative connotation in South America.

"I am totally against racism and deleted the message as soon as it was explained to me that it could be interpreted differently. I would like to sincerely apologize for this," Cavani said in a statement.

But the FA announced that he was still accused of having violated a regulation that prohibits all "inappropriate behavior" on social networks, with the aggravating circumstance that it referred to "color and / or race. and / or another person's ethnicity ".

The player has until January 4 to present his defense to the federation.

Last season, Bernardo Silva (Manchester City) and Dele Alli (Tottenham) were suspended for a match after having exceeded the instructions of the Federation.

But the penalties were tightened at the start of the season to provide for a minimum suspension of three matches.

In 2011, another Uruguayan striker, Luis Suarez, then at Liverpool, was suspended for eight matches for using the Spanish term "negro" (black) when speaking to Patrice Evra, during a game against Manchester United.

The independent disciplinary commission had ruled that, although Luis Suarez was not racist, his remarks constituted a racist insult.

This incident also recalls the interruption of the Champions League match between Paris SG and Basaksehir after the fourth Romanian referee of the match had appointed Pierre Webo, assistant coach of the Turkish team, to the referee by saying "the black one" .

The players of both teams had left the field and the match was over the next day, with another team of referees.

© 2020 AFP