Spurs midfielder Dele Alli banned for one Premier League match over coronavirus post

England player will miss Spurs' return to top-flight action against Manchester United

Tottenham midfielder Dele Alli has been handed a one-match ban by the English Football Association. PA

Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Dele Alli will miss the Premier League restart after being suspended for one match over a post on social media about coronavirus.

The Football Association found Alli guilty of misconduct after after posting a video on social media of himself at an airport wearing a mask and apparently mocking a man of Asian appearance.

Alli deleted the video within minutes of posting it and apologised twice but has still been punished by the FA.

The 24-year-old was also fined £50,000 (Dh232,300) and must undertake an education course after he was found guilty by a independent regulatory commission.

Alli will now miss Tottenham’s first match back, the visit of Champions League qualification rivals Manchester United on June 19.

He apologed again on Twitter on Thursday: "In response to the FA decision, I would like to apologise again for any offence caused by my behaviour.

"It was an extremely poorly judged joke about a virus that has now affected us more than we could ever have imagined.

"I'm grateful that The FA has confirmed that my actions were not racist because I despise racism of any kind. We all need to be mindful of the words and actions we use and how they can be perceived by others."

He has claimed a friend “betrayed” him by selling a private Snapchat video.

“The player explained he decided to delete the video before he boarded his flight to Dubai,” read the FA’s written reasons for the decision, released on Thursday.

“It was the following day that he became aware that he had, in his words, been ‘betrayed’ by someone on his Snapchat group and the post had been given to the media.”

In May, Alli was robbed at knifepoint when armed raiders broke into his London home. He described the ordeal as a "horrible experience".