Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand has been charged by the Football Association with improper conduct in relation to recent comments posted on Twitter.
The charge comes as a result of Ferdinand's response to a tweet describing Chelsea's Ashley Cole as a "choc ice".
The term used relates to the black and white nature of the confectionery, when an individual is supposedly being black on the outside and white on the inside.
Ferdinand, who denied he was being racist when responding to one of his followers on the social networking website, has until 16:00 BST on August 2nd to respond to the charge.
Police had been investigating comments made against Cole, which came just days after his team-mate John Terry was cleared of racism.
Chelsea captain Terry was earlier this month cleared of a racially aggravated public order offence at Westminster Magistrates' Court, after it had been alleged that he had used a racist obscenity about Queens Park Rangers defender Anton Ferdinand.
After the case, a Twitter user, believed to be a man from the Derbyshire area, referred to Cole as a "choc ice".
Anton's brother, Rio, then replied: "I hear you fella! Choc ice is classic hahahahahaha!!".
He later wrote: "And if I want to laugh at something someone tweets....I will! Hahahahaha! Now stop getting ya knickers in a twist!"
The following day, Rio again tweeted, insisting: "What I said yesterday is not a racist term. Its a type of slang/term used by many for someone who is being fake. So there."
Derbyshire Police last week said it was investigating the original tweet after receiving complaints from members of the public.