Portuguese Parliament Reject Motion over Bernardo Silva Racism Incident
November 24, 2019
Yet another party has had its say on the Bernardo Silva racism incident, with Portugal's parliament rejecting a motion to repudiate the English Football Association's decision to hand the Manchester City man a one-match ban and £50,000 fine.
According to Sport Witness, Silva will also have to take an education course, and the result of the FA's investigation appeared to bring an end to the incident.
Portugal's CDS-PP (the People's Party) had other ideas, however, per Jornal de Noticias (h/t Sport Witness). They reportedly presented a two-part motion to parliament, stating Silva had "no racist intention" and wanting a "vote of solidarity."
The first part of the motion was unanimously approved by all parties, but the vote of solidarity proved less popular, and ultimately saw the motion rejected. Per the report, Silva was relieved it did, allowing the winger to finally move on from the incident.
The FA charged Silva with misconduct after he likened team-mate Benjamin Mendy to a Spanish cartoon figure many consider racist, a charge that did not go down well in Portugal. Per Elliott Jackson of the Manchester Evening News, former club Benfica went out of their way to defend the 25-year-old, even though he only played a few matches for their senior team before leaving for AS Monaco in 2014.
Per Mark Critchley of the Independent, manager Pep Guardiola defended his player after the club decided not to appeal the FA's decision:
"In that situation, the most important thing is we will miss him. He has been accused of something he is not.
"He will be careful to use social media. If this can help to do a better society, OK. I am pretty sure Bernardo accept this punishment. But he is not like he has been accused. They don’t know him."
Silva sat out Saturday's 3-1 win over Chelsea and will be eligible to play again when City visit Newcastle United. He'll likely return to the team before then in the UEFA Champions League fixture against Shakhtar Donetsk in midweek.