​Manchester City winger Bernardo Silva has been ruled out of the club's crucial Premier League clash against Chelsea after he received a one game ban for an offensive Tweet. 


In September, Silva sent a post to City teammate Benjamin Mendy on Twitter, that suggested the France left-back resembled a cartoon-like character used to promote a brand of Spanish chocolate called Conguitos.


Although he deleted the post after 45 minutes, the controversial caricature evoked images of colonialism and racial oppression and the 25-year-old was widely criticised for sharing it in a public social media setting.

A number of high profile figures came out to defend him after the incident, with ​Pep Guardiola, ​Raheem Sterling and Mendy himself all supporting the winger amid significant criticism from ​Kick It Out.


Silva's lack of knowledge of the historically offensive nature of the image, his previous exemplary character and disciplinary record and the fact that the winger did not intend to cause any offence, were among the list of mitigating circumstances offered to the FA to convince them to moderate their punishment.


However, after a lengthy investigation, the ​FA announced on Wednesday that by positing the image, Silva had committed an "Aggravated Breach" of FA Rule E3 (1) - as it was insulting and/or improper and/or brought the game into disrepute. 


Because of this, Silva faces a number of sanctions. 


The first of which is the one match ban that means he will miss the ​Chelsea game, however the Portugal international has also been hit with a £50,000 fine. 

Bernardo Silva

Furthermore, the FA has instructed that Silva undertake a mandatory face-to-face education programme. 


The winger will be a big miss for Guardiola's side when they face the Blues a week on Saturday. 


The Citizens' defeat to ​Liverpool at the weekend leaves them nine points adrift of the league leading Reds in fourth place, making the visit of third place Chelsea a must-win game.