Dele Alli has been handed a one-game ban and £50,000 fine by the Football Association for his controversial social media post earlier this year in which he appeared to mock an Asian man over the coronavirus. He will miss next Friday’s clash with Manchester United.

He made fun of an Asian man in an airport with the caption: ‘Corona whatttttt, please listen with volume.’ He deleted the video within minutes of posting it and apologized twice.

An FA statement read: “Dele Alli has been suspended for one match with immediate effect, fined £50,000 and must undertake a face-to-face education course following a breach of FA Rule E3. The Tottenham Hotspur FC player denied that a social media post breached FA Rule E3(1), as it was insulting and/or improper and/or brought the game into disrepute, and constituted an “Aggravated Breach”, which is defined in FA Rule E3(2), as it included a reference, whether express or implied, to race and/or colour and/or ethnic origin and/or nationality. However, it was subsequently found proven by an independent Regulatory Commission.”

Alli said: ‘In response to the FA decision, I would like to apologise again for any offence caused by my actions on 6th February. It was an extremely poorly judged joke about a virus that has now affected us more than we could ever have imagined. I’m grateful that the FA has confirmed that my actions were not racist because I despise racism of any kind. We all need to be mindful of the words and actions we use and how they can be perceived by others.’