Dele Alli is in hot water with the Football Association over a Snapchat video he posted during the winter break.
The Tottenham ace has been charged by the FA after a video appeared on Snapchat in which Alli appears to mock an Asian man and the coronavirus while in an airport.
The footage showed Alli wearing a face mask before zooming in on a person with the caption: "Corona whattt, please listen with volume."
It then panned to a bottle of antiseptic hand wash, with the caption: "This virus gunna have to be quicker than that to catch me."
Alli was widely condemned after the video emerged and he has now been charged by the FA for his actions.
In a statement, the FA said: "Dele Alli has been charged with misconduct for a breach of FA Rule E3 in relation to a social media post.
"It is alleged that the Tottenham Hotspur midfielder’s post breaches FA Rule E3(1) as it was insulting and/or improper and/or brought the game into disrepute.
"It is further alleged that the post constitutes 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.
"He has until Thursday 5 March 2020 to provide a response."
Alli faces the potential of a one-match ban, given that was the punishment Manchester City midfielder Bernardo Silva received for a similar misconduct charge earlier in the season in which he posted a tweet with racial connotations to team-mate Benjamin Mendy.
However, Alli would appear to have different grounds for appeal than Silva.
In explaining their sanctions over Bernardo Silva's case, the FA stated: "The final matter relied upon by the Football Association was the fact that this tweet was published on a media site that had in excess of 600,000 followers.
"Previously decided cases have observed, correctly in the view of this Commission, that a high-profile professional footballer may have his misconduct aggravated by reason of the fact that his profile in the community serves to further influence those who are exposed to the improper communication.
"Moreover, in this particular case the offending material was distributed to an extensive public audience. The Commission regard that degree of publicity, coupled with the profile of this well-respected professional footballer, as being an aggravating factor."
Alli's video was also posted on a public platform - Snapchat - but it may not have been released by him. You can send videos in a group chat to friends on the social media platform and it is believed that Alli originally posted the video in a group chat, before it was then leaked publicly. It was not filmed for public purposes - it was a private message for friends and it is believed any possible appeal will use that as its basis.
What could also work in Alli's favour is that he immediately apologised for his actions and deleted the video.
He said: "Hi guys, it's Dele. Just wanted to apologise on my behalf for the video I posted on Snapchat yesterday.
"It wasn't funny and I realised that immediately and took it down. I let myself down and the club. I don't want you guys to have that impression of me because it wasn't funny.
"I realised that straight away and took it down. It isn't something which should be joked about. I'm sending all of my love, thoughts and prayers to everyone in China."
Silva sent a letter to the FA admitting his regret over the incident, although there was no public apology for posting the photo to Twitter. He did delete the photo 45 minutes after it was published, something that was noted by the FA in their sanction.
If Alli responds to the charge on the basis that he was posting the video to friends and it was not intended for public consumption, he could escape a match ban.
