Gary Lineker has slammed the “celebration police” after it was revealed UEFA are set to probe a cheeky gesture by England‘s Jude Bellingham during their nail-biting win over Slovakia.
The young Real Madrid sensation found the back of the net with a game-changing equaliser just as Slovakia’s Ivan Schranz had England fans sweating over a potential knockout. The Three Lions clawed back to secure a 2-1 victory in extra time, thanks to skipper Harry Kane, and booked themselves a spicy quarter-final clash with Switzerland.
But the buzz around Bellingham’s crucial contribution could be cut short as UEFA investigates his saucy crotch-grabbing celebration. While players have been slapped with bans for such antics before, Lineker took to Twitter to call out UEFA, saying: “For crying out loud, the @EURO2024 celebration police are looking into @BellinghamJude. Ridiculous!”
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UEFA’s ethics squad is on the case, with a spokesperson confirming: “Ethics and Disciplinary Inspector will conduct a disciplinary investigation regarding a potential violation of the basic rules of decent conduct by the English FA player, Jude Bellingham, having allegedly occurred in the scope of this match,”.
Meanwhile, Bellingham tried to clear the air about his controversial celebration, explaining it was all banter aimed at mates in the stands: “An inside joke gesture towards some close friends who were at the game,” he posted online, adding, “Nothing but respect for how that Slovakia team played tonight,” reports the Mirror.
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(Image: UEFA via Getty Images)
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The former Borussia Dortmund star has a knack for scoring crucial late goals. He netted a stoppage-time winner against Union Berlin in his first Champions League match for Real Madrid and shattered Barcelona’s hopes in the final moments of El Clasico in October.
“I know what I can deliver in those moments,” Bellingham stated. “I’ve done it for Madrid this year, I’ve done it for England before. If it ends up being one that helps us lift the trophy, then it will be right up there [as the best goal of his career]. But until then, we will see.”
“I think the performance was really good until their goal and even afterwards. We had massive control, we were always threatening in the final third. We maybe lacked the little touches to create the big chances but we still had a few that were half-chances and we showed really great quality to maximise. It’s going to be important for us going forward.”
England’s quarter-final rivals Switzerland have yet to lose in the tournament, earning five points – the same as England – in the group stages. They defeated reigning champions Italy in the round of 16, thanks to goals from Remo Freuler and Ruben Vargas on either side of the half-time break.
Gareth Southgate will have to make at least one alteration for the quarter-final match. Centre-back Marc Guehi, who has been in the starting line-up for every game in Germany, received his second yellow card of the tournament during the Slovakia match and will be sidelined due to suspension.