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Morata and Rodri banned for ‘Gibraltar is Spanish’ chant

By AFP
August 08, 2024
Spains Alvaro Morata (left) and Rodri (right) warm up ahead of the UEFA Euro 2024 round of 16 football match between Spain and Georgia in Cologne on June 30, 2024. — AFP
Spain's Alvaro Morata (left) and Rodri (right) warm up ahead of the UEFA Euro 2024 round of 16 football match between Spain and Georgia in Cologne on June 30, 2024. — AFP

PARIS: Spanish football captain Alvaro Morata and midfielder Rodri received a one-match suspension each from UEFA on Wednesday for singing “Gibraltar is Spanish” during the presentation of the Euro 2024 trophy in Madrid in July.

Gibraltar is a fortified British Overseas Territory at the entrance of the Atlantic Ocean from the Mediterranean Sea. Morata and Rodri were part of the Spain team that beat England 2-1 in the final in Germany and sang via microphone at a central Madrid square.

UEFA’s disciplinary committee “suspends for the next match” the two players for “having violated the basic rules of decency and for having used sporting events for demands of a non-sporting nature”.