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Euro 2024: UEFA Confirms Jude Bellingham’s Suspension Ahead Of Switzerland Clash
UEFA has announced that they will impose a penalty on England midfielder, Jude Bellingham, for his inappropriate behaviour following his goal in their 2-1 victory against Slovakia at the Euro 2024 tournament.
Additionally, Bellingham has been suspended from participating in any UEFA competitions.
SportXparte reports that the Real Madrid star player was captured on camera making an inappropriate move after scoring a crucial goal and later claimed it was all part of a “joke”.
UEFA issued a statement on Friday, stating that they have chosen to levy a fine of €30,000 on Jude Bellingham and to ban him from participating in one UEFA competition match for his violation of the fundamental principles of good sportsmanship.
UEFA said Bellingham’s “Suspension is not immediately enforced and is subject to a probationary period of one (1) year, starting from the date of the present decision.”
England will be facing Switzerland in the quarter-final on Saturday.
Copa América: Lionel Messi Doubtful For Argentina Ahead Of Quarterfinal Against Ecuador
In other news, Lionel Messi’s availability for Thursday’s Copa América quarter-final against Ecuador is uncertain as coach Lionel Scaloni says he will wait before deciding on his team.
The World Cup-winning coach said the lineup would be determined after the evening training session, in which Messi took part.
“We will train in a couple of hours, and then we will decide. One more day is always better, yesterday we had good sensations and today we will decide. Based on today’s answer [In training], we will decide if Messi plays,” he said in a news conference before practice.
Messi missed Argentina’s last group stage match, a 2-0 victory against Peru on June 29, due to a right leg injury he picked up in the 1-0 win over Chile. He was considered “day-to-day” before resuming training earlier this week.
Scaloni expects to have an individual conversation with Messi after the last session and before the match to further understand his physical status.
“I haven’t spoken with him about the situation, I will talk to him today given it’s match day -1,” Scaloni said.
“I thought it was fair that he took his time and trained as much as possible. After talking, we will decide. I haven’t talked to him, so we don’t know if he will play.”
Scaloni is uncertain about the lineup for the match against Ecuador, but he emphasized that the choice to start specific offensive players over others will not be influenced by Messi’s presence.
“It’s never been that way. It alters when Leo doesn’t play, it alters everyone, not just me,” Scaloni said. “We will try for him to be there, and if not we will find the best for the team. He’s game by game, and the team will conform to the rival.”
