The Football Association has rejected an appeal from Manchester City defender Bacary Sagna against his £40,000 fine for a social media post that was found to be in breach of the governing body's rules.
Sagna appeared to question the impartiality of referee Lee Mason on his personal Instagram account in the aftermath of City's 2-1 Premier League win over Burnley on January 2.
Pep Guardiola's side were forced to play for an hour with 10 men after Fernandinho was sent off for a rash lunge on Johann Gudmundsson.
That decision and others appeared to rile the right-back, who wrote: "10 against 12.. but still fighting and winning as a team #together #mancity #youfreetothinkwhateveryouwant."
The France international later amended the post to remove "10 against 12" but the FA decided he had fallen foul of its rules on media comments.
An FA statement issued on Thursday read: "Bacary Sagna's appeal against his £40,000 fine for breaching FA rules on media comments has been unsuccessful.
"The player, who was also warned as to his future conduct, contested the sanction set down by an independent regulatory commission after it heard he admitted making a comment which questioned the integrity of the match official and/or alleged and/or implied bias on the part of the match official, and/or brought the game into disrepute, contrary to rule E3 (1).
"However, an appeal board dismissed this appeal and the original sanction remains in place."
Sagna has made 17 appearances in all competitions for City this season and completed 90 minutes in Wednesday's 4-0 Premier League victory at West Ham.
