Jude Bellingham has been given a suspended one-game ban following a UEFA investigation into the lewd gesture he appeared to make towards the Slovakia bench in the European Championship last 16.
Bellingham will be available for England’s quarter-final tie against Switzerland in Dusseldorf on Saturday. He has also been fined €30,000, while the English FA has been fined €11,000 for the lighting of fireworks and crowd disturbances by supporters during the Slovakia match.
UEFA released a statement on Monday which said Bellingham would be investigated “regarding a potential violation of the basic rules of decent conduct”. European football’s governing body had previously indicated Bellingham was not expected to face any punishment.
The 21-year-old scored a last-minute equaliser to force the last-16 game into extra time, with Harry Kane then netting the winning goal to set up a quarter-final tie against Switzerland.
Bellingham appeared to follow his 95th-minute strike in Gelsenkirchen by making a lewd gesture in the direction of Slovakia’s bench.
He later claimed on social media that it was an “inside joke gesture” towards his close friends who were at the game. “Nothing but respect for how that Slovakia team played tonight,” he added.
According to the International Football Association Board’s (IFAB) laws of the game, any “obscene gesture” or “offensive or insulting action” should be punishable by a red card.
England will be without defender Marc Guehi for Saturday’s quarter-final after the centre-back picked up his second yellow card of the tournament during the last-16 victory over Slovakia. He will be available to return for the semi-finals, should England progress past Switzerland.
UEFA confirmed on Monday that Declan Rice, meanwhile, would not face any retrospective action for his post-match altercation with Slovakia manager Francesco Calzona.
The midfielder was pushed in the chest by Calzona after the Slovakia boss approached Umat Meler, the referee, at full-time. Rice appeared ready to shake Calzona’s hand but reacted when the opposition manager shoved him.
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(Patricia De Melo Moreira/AFP via Getty Images)