Spanish internationals Rodri and Alvaro Morata were banned on Wednesday for Spain’s first match as the new European football champions, after singing about a sovereignty claim on Gibraltar at the title celebration last month. ALSO READ: Spanish team sing ‘Gibraltar is Spanish’ during Euro 2024 celebrations in Madrid.
Morata and Rodri led thousands of fans singing ‘Gibraltar is Spanish’ in Madrid, a day after the 2-1 win over England in the European Championship final. ALSO READ: Spain beat England 2-1 to win Euro 2024 – and Carlos Alcaraz wins Wimbledon.
The UEFA’s disciplinary panel punished the two players with a one-match ban — to be served in the game against Serbia in the Nations League on 5 September — for, among other charges, ‘using sporting events for manifestations of a non-sporting nature and for bringing the sport of football, and UEFA in particular, into disrepute’.
Gibraltar, on the southern tip of Spain, has been a British overseas territory for more than 300 years. The Gibraltar Football Association had filed a formal complaint to UEFA after the chants by Rodri and Morata.
Rodri – full name Rodrigo Hernández Cascante – is a centre midfielder for Manchester City and was named as the player of the tournament at Euro 2024. Morata was Spain’s captain for the tournament and recently completed a move from Atletico Madrid to AC Milan.
In response to UEFA’s ruling, the Gibraltar Football Association issued a statement to say that it ‘welcomed UEFA’s decision’ and that ‘the core issue at hand was the inappropriate and inflammatory nature of the chants, which not only disrespected the people of Gibraltar but also brought politics into a sporting arena, undermining the values of unity and respect that the sport embodies’.
The Gibraltar FA said that it was ‘pleased that UEFA has acknowledged the severity of this incident and has acted accordingly. This decision sends a clear message that football must remain a platform for promoting peace, understanding, and fair play, free from divisive and offensive actions such as the chants’.
ALSO READ: Spain and the UK make ‘significant progress’ in Gibraltar talks.
🤯Rodri se arranca con el cántico de ‘Gibraltar es español’ … ¡y Álvaro Morata le recuerda que juega en un equipo inglés!#Euro2024 #EuroRTVE
— RTVE (@rtve) July 15, 2024
➡ https://t.co/mEyijVMic3 pic.twitter.com/JXi3pu6Ox0
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