English Premier LeagueDele Alli in the doke over coronavirus “joke”
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Tottenham’s midfielder, Dele Alli has apologized for his post on social media concerning coronavirus by saying, “I let myself down and the club.”

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Dele Alli shot a video on Snapchat joking about coronavirus outbreak and appeared to mock an Asian man.

The video posted by the midfielder showed him wearing a face mask in an airport lounge before moving the camera to show a man of Asian appearance. He then zoomed in on a bottle of antiseptic hand wash.

On realizing his mistake, the 23-year-old released a new video on the Chinese social media platform Weibo to apologize.

He said, “It wasn’t funny. I realized that immediately and took it down. I let myself down and the club.”

“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.”

The United Kingdom government has described the virus as a “serious and imminent threat” to public health.

The coronavirus outbreak has led to more than 900 deaths in China with over 40,000 cases reported worldwide.

The Football Association has written to Alli to ask for his observations regarding the post. Meanwhile, Alli could be in hot soup with the Football Association.

Despite the apology, the Daily Mail has revealed that the FA is now investigating the controversial video. The England international will face a suspension.

The investigation is in view of a potential charge and disciplinary chiefs have now written to Alli to seek his observations on the post.

How many games could Alli miss?

The FA are likely to consider their own ruling from last November that saw Man Utd’s Bernardo Silva banned for one game and fined £50,000 for a social media post. Bernardo had compared team-mate Benjamin Mendy to the character on a packet of Conguitos.

It is an unfortunate turn of events for Alli who regardless of his impressionable age, should by now know better. Along with a predicted one-match ban, Alli will probably be fined about £50,000 for acts unbecoming of players under the watchful eye of the FA.

The prospective ban probably won’t come into effect until next season as the processes are thorough and time-consuming.

Alli has put himself in the situation and will hopefully learn a serious lesson about the nature of his conduct. He is young and almost assuredly didn’t intend on coming across as racist or bigot. But jokes of nature, in the ultra-sensitive world we live in, simply won’t be tolerated especially by individuals constantly in the public eye.

Therefore, one game will suffice though Alli certainly won’t repeat the mistake again.