DUSSELDORF, Germany — England received a significant (albeit expected) boost ahead of its Euro 2024 quarterfinal when superstar midfielder Jude Bellingham was cleared to play against Switzerland.
Bellingham was under investigation from UEFA for making a lewd gesture just seconds after scoring a sensational overhead kick in the round of 16 against Slovakia, a strike that saved England from elimination.
While all the focus was on his now-iconic “who else?” scoring celebration, the 21-year-old followed that by kissing his hand and making a crotch-grabbing motion while appearing to look in the direction of the Slovakia bench.
However, the governing body restricted its punishment to a 30,000-Euro ($32,460) fine and a suspended one-game ban, meaning that unless there is a repeat in the next year, Bellingham will avoid further censure.
England meets Switzerland in Dusseldorf on Saturday, and now that Bellingham is essentially cleared, they will be at full strength except central defender Marc Guehi, who was ruled out after picking up two yellow cards.
Over the past year, Bellingham has established himself as the England player with the strongest international reputation. His exploits for Real Madrid have made him a favorite for the Ballon d’Or award, and last weekend’s goal won’t have heard that bid any.
He claimed that the action that attracted UEFA’s attention was “an inside joke” for the benefit of friends sitting in the stands, and was not meant to convey any disrespect to Slovakia’s team.
The Control, Ethics and Disciplinary arm of UEFA found Bellingham guilty of “violating the basic rules of decent conduct.” It added, in a statement: “said suspension is not immediately enforced and is subject to a probationary period of one year, starting from the date of the present decision.”
Not so fortunate was Turkey’s influential defender Merih Demiral. Demiral was suspended for two games by UEFA, starting with his nation’s quarterfinal against the Netherlands for displaying a controversial gesture when scoring against Austria in the round of 16.
Demiral made the shape of a wolf’s head with his fingers — an action associated with an extremist nationalist group, the Gray Wolves — and the incident quickly spilled beyond sports and into the diplomatic sphere.
The German ambassador to Turkey, and, a day later, the Turkish ambassador to Germany, were each summoned to the foreign ministry in the respective countries to discuss Demiral’s actions and the response to them.
Turkey’s government defended the symbol as a display of “national pride.” UEFA disagreed, charging the player with “manifestations of a non-sporting nature and … bringing the sport of football into disrepute.”
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