Jude Bellingham is clear to face Switzerland on Saturday after being fined €30,000 (£25,400) and given a suspended one-match ban by Uefa for his lewd gesture after scoring England’s dramatic equaliser against Slovakia.
Bellingham was shown on TV to have kissed his right hand before making a crotch-grabbing action. He said it had been “an inside‑joke gesture towards some close friends who were at the game” and in no way aimed at the Slovakia bench.
Uefa’s control, ethics and disciplinary body found him guilty of “violating the basic rules of decent conduct” and said of his ban, which would apply to any match under its jurisdiction: “Said suspension is not immediately enforced and is subject to a probationary period of one year, starting from the date of the present decision.”
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Uefa fined the Football Association €10,000 for crowd disturbances and €1,000 for lighting of fireworks by England fans at the same match.
All 26 England players trained on Friday before Saturday’s quarter-final. Gareth Southgate is expected to switch to a back three and must decide whether to start Luke Shaw, who has not played since February because of a hamstring injury. Bukayo Saka is his other option at left wing-back and either Kieran Trippier or Trent Alexander-Arnold is expected to play at right wing-back.
Uefa has banned Turkey’s Merih Demiral for two matches for a politically charged “wolf” celebration. Demiral mimicked the shape of a wolf’s head with his fingers after his second goal in Turkey’s last-16 victory over Austria. The gesture is associated with the right-wing extremist nationalist group Grey Wolves.
Uefa said he was being punished “for failing to comply with the general principles of conduct, for violating the basic rules of decent conduct, for using sports events for manifestations of a non-sporting nature and for bringing the sport of football into disrepute”.
Demiral and Turkey’s government have defended the gesture as a normal expression of patriotic pride. Turkey’s ambassador to Germany was summoned to the foreign ministry in Berlin over the salute.
