Jude Bellingham and Declan Rice are unlikely to face UEFA charges following the tense conclusion to England’s dramatic victory over Slovakia.
Bellingham, the Real Madrid midfielder, secured a last-minute equalizer with a 95th-minute overhead kick, and was then observed making a seemingly crude gesture towards the Slovakia bench.
He swiftly clarified on social media that the gesture was a light-hearted joke directed at friends in the stands. “Nothing but respect for how that Slovakia team played tonight,” he shared on X.
In a separate incident, after Harry Kane netted a winner in extra time, Rice became embroiled in a heated exchange with Slovakia’s manager, Francesco Calzona.
The confrontation, which required Aaron Ramsdale to restrain Rice, involved the English midfielder allegedly calling Calzona a ‘bald ****’ as the latter approached the officials.
Mail Sport reports that UEFA is not planning to impose fines or bans on Bellingham or Rice, allowing them to remain available for England’s quarter-final match against Switzerland in Dusseldorf on Saturday.
However, UEFA has initiated disciplinary proceedings against the FA due to crowd disturbances during the match.
In their statement, UEFA announced, “Following the review of the officials’ reports for the ENG-SVK match, disciplinary proceedings have been opened against the English Football Association for lighting of fireworks and crowd disturbances. The CEDB will take a decision on this case in due course. No further proceedings were opened from this match.”
Some sources, including the Portuguese newspaper A Bola, initially suggested that Bellingham’s gesture might result in a one-match ban. Such a sanction would significantly impact Gareth Southgate’s squad, which has managed only four goals in four games at the Euros, with Bellingham contributing two of those.
The gesture Bellingham made is not unprecedented in football. Atletico Madrid’s Diego Simeone made a similar gesture in the Champions League in 2019 after defeating Juventus.
Cristiano Ronaldo later replicated Simeone’s ‘cojones’ gesture in the return leg, leading to an incredible comeback win for Juventus.
Ronaldo avoided a ban and received a €20,000 fine for ‘improper conduct’ by UEFA.
Slovakia’s manager, Calzona, later explained that his confrontation with Rice stemmed from a complaint about England’s time-wasting during extra time.
“Rice was supposed to go to the referees and leave,” Calzona stated. “I had to speak to the refs and he wasn’t leaving.”
England faces one suspension for their next match, as Marc Guehi will be unavailable after receiving his second booking of the tournament early in the Gelsenkirchen match, which followed a previous yellow card in the 0-0 draw against Slovenia.
Despite potential challenges, England is favoured by bookmakers to win the quarter-final against Switzerland.
However, the team will need to deliver their strongest performance yet to overcome a formidable Swiss squad that ousted Italy in the round of 16.
