UEFA hand ban to Man City star Rodri for controversial celebration
Rodri and Alvaro Morata have been handed one-match bans by UEFA for a controversial chant during Spain celebrations of the European Championship.
Manchester City star Rodri was named the player of the tournament as Spain beat England in last month’s final to clinch a major victory, with his coach and many teammates urging that he should be awarded this year’s Ballon d’Or. However, he and Morata sparked controversy in their celebrations when they shouted to a crowd that ‘Gibraltar is Spanish’.
The incident prompted a complaint to UEFA from the Gibraltar FA and the governing body of European football has now concluded that the players have to be punished for their actions. They are blasted in the verdict from UEFA’s control, ethids and siciplinary body for ‘failing to comply with the general principles of conduct, for violating the basic rules of decent conduct, for using sporting events for manifestations of a non-sporting nature and for bringing the sport of football, and UEFA in particular, into disrepute’.
As a result, both have been banned for the next competitive UEFA game. However, that only applies to their national team so Rodri will not miss any of City’s Champions League games through suspension, instead sitting out Spain’s fixture in Serbia on September 5.
Rodri has not yet returned to the City Football Academy following his involvement with Spain this summer and the club are yet to go into the transfer market to provide the additional cover for his position that appears to be needed.
