England midfielder Jude Bellingham is available to face Switzerland in Saturday’s UEFA European Championship quarterfinal after receiving a suspended one-match ban and a €30,000 fine from UEFA for an obscene gesture made during their dramatic round-of-16 victory over Slovakia.
The 21-year-old kissed his hand and appeared to grasp his crotch after his spectacular 95th-minute overhead kick forced extra time in Gelsenkirchen last Sunday.
Bellingham later described the incident as “an inside-joke gesture towards some close friends who were at the game,” but UEFA’s control, ethics, and disciplinary authority closed its probe on Friday, saying the Real Madrid star had “violated the basic rules of decent behavior.”
The CEDB said in a statement that they had decided “to fine the English Football Association player Jude Bellingham €30,000 and suspend him for a total of one UEFA competition match for which he would otherwise be eligible for violating the basic rules of decent conduct.”
“Said suspension is not immediately enforced and is subject to a probationary period of one year, starting from the date of the present decision.”
The sentence also included separate €11,000 fines for the Football Association for what the CEDB termed as “crowd disturbances” and the “lighting of fireworks.”
Bellingham will now tread a disciplinary tightrope, with UEFA on the lookout for similar actions over the following year.
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