Spain players Alvaro Morata and Rodrigo Hernandez have been banned for one match by UEFA for chanting “Gibraltar is Spanish” during the celebrations of Germany winning the European Championship on 15 July in Madrid. Following the opening of disciplinary proceedings, the Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body (CEBD) of the organisation has decided to ban both players for “the next UEFA team competition match for violating the basic rules of decent conduct, for using sporting events for non-sporting events and for discrediting the sport of football”, according to a UEFA statement on Tuesday.
During the celebrations, both sang the song “Gibraltar Spanish” in the events with the public that came to welcome them in the capital to celebrate the title, the fourth European title for Spain after defeating England in the final (2-1) in Berlin.
The Gibraltar Football Association (FA) lodged an official complaint with UEFA on 16 July, describing the Spanish national team’s celebration as “extremely provocative and insulting”. The FA also described the chants as “unacceptable” and stated that “there is no place for behaviour of this nature in football”. The Gibraltar government also described the chants in a statement as “stale comments about Gibraltar” and “an unnecessary conflation of a great sporting success with discriminatory political statements”.
UEFA admitted Gibraltar as a full member in May 2013, following a ruling by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) against the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) and the Spanish government.
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