West Ham striker Carlton Cole has been charged with improper conduct by England's Football Association over tweets about Ghana fans made during England's friendly against the African side.
Around 20,000 Ghana fans were in Wembley Stadium to see the 1-1 draw on March 29.
Cole wrote on Twitter during the game: ''Immigration has surrounded the wembley premises! I knew it was a trap! Hahahaha. The only way to get out safely is to wear an England jersey and paint your face w/ the St. George's flag!''
Cole, who made the last of seven England appearances in March 2010, quickly apologized and tweeted: ''It was a joke & its not even racist.''
The English FA announced Friday that the 27-year-old Cole has until 1600 BST on Wednesday to respond to the charge.
The FA issued a ''social networking clarification'' in February after then-Liverpool winger Ryan Babel became the first player to be fined by the organization over comments and images posted on Twitter criticizing referee Howard Webb.
The FA advisory said ''any comments which are deemed improper, bring the game into disrepute, or are threatening, abusive, indecent or insulting may lead to disciplinary action.''
