London Evening Standard journalist Dan Kilpatrick has explained the possibility of Tottenham Hotspur attacking midfielder Dele Alli receiving a ban in the coming weeks.
The Spurs ace is set to be investigated by the FA after posting a video that appeared to mock the outbreak of the deadly coronavirus.
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Should the FA deem that the video, posted on his Snapchat profile, is racist, there is the likelihood that Alli will receive a suspension.
However, Kilpatrick, writing in the Standard, claims that any investigation is unlikely to be completed until the end of the month.
Writing that the FA have written to Alli to ask him to explain his actions, Kilpatrick said: “If Alli is charged, he will have three working days to respond, after which the FA's regulatory commission, which decides any punishment, will sit within ten days of receipt of his reply.
“In short, the outcome of the case is unlikely to be decided until towards the end of the month, after Tottenham's matches against Aston Villa and Chelsea.”
There is a precedent here, with Manchester City’s Bernardo Silva banned for one game and fined a total of £50,000 after a tweet sent to team-mate Benjamin Mendy, per the report.
In that tweet, he compared the left-back to a character that adorns the packet of chocolate cereal, with the FA making it clear that he brought the game “into disrepute”.