UEFA bans two Spain stars for provocative chants

Spain national team captain Alvaro Morata and superstar midfielder Rodri have been handed a suspension by UEFA after recent their provocative chants. The duo sang “Gibraltar is Spanish” while celebrating their triumph at Euro 2024. Spain topped England in the final match to collect their fourth European title.

The Manchester City midfielder was initially seen chanting the controversial song during the team’s hoopla back in Madrid. New Milan center forward Morata was then later heard asking the crowd to join in on the song. Tens of thousands of Spanish soccer fans attended the celebration on the day.

Hearing the song, the Gibraltar Football Association (GFA) submitted an official complaint to UEFA. The group asserted that the chants were “extremely provocative and insulting” to Gibraltar. As a result, the governing body of the sport in Europe opened an investigation into the matter.

Spain’s captain and midfield star suspended for one game

UEFA has now officially suspended both Morata and Rodri for one match due to their involvement in the Spain chants. The governing body claimed that they handed out the punishment to the players “for failing to comply with the general principles of conduct, for violating the basic rules of decent conduct, for using sporting events for manifestations of a non-sporting nature, and for bringing the sport of football, and UEFA in particular, into disrepute.”

Gibraltar has been a point of contention between Spain and the United Kingdom for hundreds of years. Despite lying in the southern portion of Spain, the area is a British Overseas Territory. Spanish officials, however, have long since called on the territory to return to their control.

Nevertheless, Gibraltar residents have blocked the chance for both Spanish sovereignty and a shared jurisdiction in previous decades. As far as soccer is concerned, Gibraltar became a full member of UEFA in 2013 and has its own national team.

Spanish duo will miss upcoming Nations League match

The suspensions now mean that Morata and Rodri will miss Spain’s next matchup against Serbia on Thursday, September 5th. The fixture is the opening game of Group A4 of the 2024/25 UEFA Nations League. Governing bodies of the sport essentially created the competition to replace potentially meaningless friendlies during international breaks. Denmark and Switzerland will join Spain in the group.

As Spain’s captain, Morata is an important player in the team. In fact, he featured in every Euro 2024 fixture for the eventual winners. He started all but one of the games in Germany, as he came off the bench in the team’s final group game against Albania.

Rodri is undoubtedly even more crucial to Spain. The star also missed out on a starting spot against Albania through a yellow card suspension. With Rodri on the pitch, La Roja has not lost a game since suffering a shock defeat to Scotland in March of 2023. This is a run of 16 consecutive victories when Rodri features for Spain.

The issue with the Spain chants was not the only controversial soccer celebration this summer. Argentine players also received backlash for singing a racist song directed towards the French national team as well. La Albiceleste chanted the song after their triumph at Copa America 2024. FIFA is still investigating the matter and has yet to issue a punishment to Argentina.

PHOTOS: IMAGO