Uefa hand out international bans to Manchester City & AC Milan stars

admin | August 7, 2024 | Other Clubs | No Comments

The decision follows an incident after Spain’s Euro 2024 victory over England last month.

Rodri and Alvaro Morata have been handed one-match bans by Uefa following their chants about Gibraltar last month.

Following Spain’s victory over England in the Euro 2024, the pair sang ‘Gibraltar is Spanish’ during public celebrations in Madrid the day after the final.

The controversial statement was condemned by the nation’s FA, who claimed via a statement: “This is a totally

unnecessary mixing of sporting success with discriminatory political statements that are hugely offensive to Gibraltarians.”

The island, located on the southern tip of Spain has been a British overseas territory for more than 300 years, although the Spanish government still claims sovereignty over the peninsula.

As a result, Uefa have handed down bans to the Manchester City midfielder and AC Milan striker, both of whom will now be unavailable for Spain’s Nations League fixture against Serbia on 5 September. In their ruling, Uefa claimed the players had used ‘sporting events for manifestations of a non-sporting nature and for bringing the sport of football, and UEFA in particular, into disrepute’.

The viral clip was widely commended at the time, with Gibraltar’s chief minister claiming via X that the incident was ‘disgusting’.

Spain beat England 2-1 in last month’s final, with Nico Williams and Mikel Oyarzabal grabbing the goals. Rodri, who was replaced at half-time in the final, was voted the player of the tournament and is still enjoying a summer break.

He was not among the City players who returned to training on Tuesday, with the majority of Pep Guardiola’s squad back at their CFA base. Along with Rodri, fellow Euro 2024 finalists Kyle Walker, John Stones and Phil Foden remain absent and are unlikely to be involved in this weekend’s Community Shield against Manchester United.

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