I don't feel there's any racism in Bernardo Silva's tweet, admits Raheem Sterling
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Manchester City star Raheem Sterling defended his teammate Bernardo Silva over a racist tweet on Benjamin Mendy, sparking debate and drawing accusations of racism on Silva. The tweet was meant to be a joke between two best friends but now the Football Association are investigating the matter.
The tweet also drew criticism from various anti-racism groups, most notably from Kick it out. Raheem Sterling who scored in Manchester City’s 3-1 win over Everton spoke to Sky Sports after the game and was in favour of teammate Bernardo Silva. His statement of support comes after manager Pep Guardiola also defended Silva and claimed punishing Silva would be a mistake.
"I don't feel there's any racism in it. It's a situation between two friends, Bernardo and Mendy, as everyone knows. I can see exactly the point where some people can get touchy-feely on it but I feel in that situation Bernardo made a joke to his friend. He's not referred to his skin colour, he's not referred to his lips. In both the pictures they've both got small heads, you know. The most important thing for me is he didn't refer to a colour," said Sterling reports the BBC.
The Football Association have also contacted Manchester City regarding the tweet. Meanwhile, Bernardo Silva personally has written a letter to the FA apologizing over the tweet which may have caused offence unintentionally. His friend and teammate Benjamin Mendy has also written to the FA supporting Silva and stating that the tweet has not caused him any offence. BBC’s report also states that Sterling went on to talk about just how the whole issue affected Silva.
"I feel it's really sad to see someone like Bernardo, the whole week, be kind of down about it because he's not that way inclined. I keep going on about it, they're really good friends, it's really sad to see. He's not in the wrong for me but at the same time I can see where people think it's wrong and we just need to be smarter on social media.”
“We understand in this day and age anything you say and anything you do can quickly be judged and it's really just a sad situation in this moment in time. There's not one moment he uses a negative term to speak about his skin colour so that's the most important thing. He tried to make a joke and that joke wasn't the best, but we've got to move on and understand it was not intentional,” concluded England international.
