Mourinho: No need for the FA to ban childish Alli

Jose Mourinho believes it would be “unnecessary” for the Football Association to ban Dele Alli for the social media post that has threatened to land him in trouble.

Alli has now replied to the FA’S request for his observations regarding the video he posted on Snapchat in which he appeared to joke about the deadly coronavirus and mock an Asian man.

Tottenham Hotspur head coach Mourinho has spoken to the midfielder about his actions, which the Portuguese described as being “naive” and “childish”, as they wait to find out whether or not the FA will take any action.

Manchester City midfielder Bernardo Silva was banned for one match and fined £50,000 this season, even though an FA commission accepted he “did not intend” a tweet about team-mate Benjamin Mendy to be “racist”.

But on the prospect of Alli, who is in line to start for Spurs against Aston Villa tomorrow, potentially being banned, Mourinho said: “I feel that would be unnecessary.

“The player understands the naivety of the situation, the player is a good guy, the player even in the dressing room has a big Asian friend [Son Heung-min] that he loves. So there was no intention at all. He immediately regrets, immediately makes a public apology.”

Other than dealing with the situation regarding Alli, Tottenham are also having to take advice on whether or not to go ahead with plans to travel to Asia for their summer tour at the end of the season.

Mourinho said: “Are we thinking about going to Asia in pre-season?

“Yes, we are. But we need guarantees of safety for our people, but we’re not thinking about this at the moment. We’re thinking about the people affected.”