As part of a generation who are obsessed with social media activity of their favourite personalities, footballers have learnt to be very aware of what they post on their social media handles: wary of not offending any particular community even without any intention of doing so.
But even after taking all sorts of precautions, a seemingly harmless post might enrage a particular community from their perspective, as was the case with Bruno Fernandes’ ‘controversial’ Instagram post when Leeds United played Everton this gameweek.
The Portuguese midfielder uploaded an Instagram story as he was watching the Leeds United-Everton encounter on Saturday.
Leeds won the game 1-0 thanks to a Raphinha winner, which Bruno applauded in his native Portuguese on his Instagram account.
The message for his former teammate at Sporting CP roughly translates to “let it be the first of many”, as Raphinha scored his debut goal for the Yorkshire based outfit to win them the three points.
But a section of die hard Manchester United fans might find the story offensive to the club’s interest, as they share a very traditional and historical rivalry with Leeds United.
Some United fans can well think that the post was disrespectful and supportive of their traditional rival’s interests, as it helped Leeds earn a precious away win in such a traditionally tough fixture at Goodison Park.
The Roses rivalry is one of the oldest and fiercest rivalries in the history of the Premier League, with record champions Manchester United having no love lost for the freshly promoted Leeds United.
The intentions behind the congratulatory post was very transparent in the eyes of a neutral, but there is a chance that it might be perceived as disrespectful by a number of United fans.
