The Portuguese ace is accused of propagating 'racist stereotypes' after teasing Man City team-mate Benjamin Mendy.

Man City superstar Bernardo Silva is embroiled in a racial controversy involving a post he made on social media regarding team-mate Benjamin Mendy, with the FA now looking into the midfielder's tweet (as per the Guardian).

The Portuguese ace took to Twitter to make a joke at the expense of the Citizens full-back. Silva posted a picture of the Frenchman when he was a kid side-by-side with the character on the packet of Conguitos with the caption "Guess Who?".

The former Monaco ace would eventually delete that tweet after facing a backlash, but as everyone knows, you cannot delete something from the Internet forever. Kick It Out, the anti-discrimination charity, publicly criticized Bernardo, slamming him for what they feel was a racist and discriminatory message.

"We are extremely disappointed to see the tweet posted by Bernardo Silva, which has since been deleted. Racist stereotypes are never acceptable as 'banter', and we're shocked that someone who is a role model to millions has failed to understand the discriminatory nature of his post," Kick It Out said.

"The FA have been notified and we believe that retrospective action should be taken, including mandatory education – which is vital to challenge offensive behavior such as this."

The fact that the FA are looking into that tweet means that he could be facing a fine or a ban. The organization introduced a minimum six-game ban punishment for anyone guilty of racial abuse but whether that will apply to social media or whether Silva will be deemed guilty by the FA remains unknown.

Man City have not issued a statement regarding the player's post, which went up on his official Twitter account on Sunday before getting deleted almost an hour later. The midfielder, however, has issued a non-apologetic response on the same platform, tweeting "Can't even joke with a friend these days... You guys …" alongside a facepalm emoji. This garnered him further backlash.

Mendy did not appear to take offense from this joke, responding to Silva's now-deleted tweet with two laughing emojis. The two are close friends, having shared a dressing room from their days at Monaco before moving to the Etihad Stadium together.

This is not the first time the defender's skin color was the punchline of Bernardo's joking, asking his team-mate why he was naked when the Frenchman was wearing a black T-shirt in an earlier video. Time will tell whether the Portuguese star will be slapped with a punishment.