Elf - that excuse does not hold water for several reasons
1) he was clearly having a argument with him hence would not be using an affectionate name
2) he has been in Europe long enough to know that it is unacceptable
3) he claimed to have used it once but the recording showed 7 times
He used it as a deliberate racist slur, the FA found him guilty of this.
Now maybe he is not a racist but for sure he used a racist slur intentionally to upset


