Jude Bellingham is facing a potential ban following a gesture the midfielder made during England’s 2-1 win over Slovakia.
Bellingham scored a stunning late equaliser to save the Three Lions before aiming an apparent crotch grab towards the benches.
The footage of his celebration went viral and the 21-year-old was then forced to head onto social media to explain himself.
He posted: “An inside joke gesture towards some close friends who were at the game. Nothing but respect for how that Slovakia team played tonight.”
However, since then, UEFA have released a statement and Bellingham could still face punishment…
What punishment could Bellingham face?
Bellingham could be banned for making the crude gesture.
According to the laws of the game, any ‘obscene gesture’ or ‘offensive or insulting action’ should be punishable by a red card.
And there have been punishments handed out to players for similar offences in recent years.
Most notably to Portugal icon Cristiano Ronaldo.
Earlier this year, Ronaldo was banned for one game after gesturing towards fans during a game for Al Nassr in Saudi Arabia.
Similarly to Bellingham, he released a statement defending his actions after the incident went viral.
But that didn’t prevent a punishment and now England’s hero will be nervous about any potential ban himself.
Ronaldo was also punished in 2019 for the same issue.
This was in response to Atletico Madrid boss Diego Simeone’s ‘cojones’ celebration, however, both avoided a ban and were fined €20,000 instead.
And this could also be the case for Bellingham following a further look into the incident by UEFA.
UEFA confirmed their intentions by releasing a statement that read: “UEFA Ethics and Disciplinary Inspector will conduct a disciplinary investigation regarding a potential violation of the basic rules of decent conduct by the English Football Association player, Jude Bellingham, having allegedly occurred in the scope of this match.”
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