Football

John Barnes says Bernardo Silva's Benjamin Mendy tweet is 'not racist'


John Barnes has insisted Bernardo Silva’s controversial tweet to Benjamin Mendy was ‘not racist’.

The Man City midfielder was criticised after responding to a message from his teammate on social media.

Silva posted a picture believed to be a young Mendy, alongside the logo of Spanish sweet company Conguitos, with the caption “Guess who?”

Racism campaigners Kick It Out claimed the tweet was discriminatory, with the FA now investigating the matter .

But Barnes told Sky Sports : “There’s absolutely nothing wrong with it.

“It’s ridiculous. It’s a cartoon, and in many respects I’ve seen it, and I think he looks like a young Mendy. I don’t see what the issue is.

Silva has been criticised over his tweet

“This has got nothing to do with racism. They are friends. Regardless of whether it looks like Mendy or not, why is that offensive?

“Are Kick It Out and the FA wrong? Yes.”

Silva removed the tweet less than 45 minutes after it went up online, insisting it was not malicious, and said: “Can’t even joke with a friend these days… you guys.”

Barnes added: “Showing a caricature of a little black boy, and a real black boy, how is that racial stereotyping?

“He did not show the cartoon, all he did was put up two pictures.

He shares a good relationship with Mendy

“If he talked about the cartoon they [the FA and Kick It Out] can then say, ‘yes that’s discriminatory’. It’s just a picture of two people and some may argue they look alike.

“As friends they probably have banter like that.

“If they say why they think it is discriminatory, then maybe I will have a different opinion, but it cannot be discriminatory by just looking at those two pictures and saying it’s racist.”

Barnes does not feel the tweet was racist

City boss Pep Guardiola has defended his player, stating: “They should put their focus on another issue, because they don’t know which guy you are talking about.

“Bernardo is one of most lovely people I ever met in my life.

“He speaks four or five languages and that is the best way to understand how open-minded he is and one of his best friends is Mendy. He’s like a brother for him.

“The image is not about the colour of the skin. He took a picture of Benjamin when he was younger and he related it to this cartoon, which was quite similar for the image.

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“Honestly, I don’t think about what happened about that. If they want to do that and ask Bernardo, I think he will be open to talk.

“But first you have to know exactly which person you are talking about.

“There are many situations with people, with white people and you look at a cartoon, and the face is quite similar as your face and you put it in there, it’s quite similar.

Guardiola has backed his player

“I think the response from Mendy was clear after that. They are joking all the time.

“Maybe what I say as advice is to hide [from] social media, because if something happened it would be a mistake.

“Bernardo is an exceptional person.

“A guy who can speak five languages, it’s because he’s open-minded – nothing about the colour of the skin, nationalities or whatever.”





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