The Diplomat
UEFA will investigate whether Spanish internationals Rodrigo Hernández and Álvaro Morata breached the body’s disciplinary rules by singing ‘Gibraltar is Spanish’ during the celebration of the Euro 2024 title in Madrid, as announced yesterday by the governing body of European football.
The announcement indicates that a UEFA Ethics and Disciplinary Inspector has been appointed to evaluate a possible violation of that organization’s disciplinary regulations by the two players, during the public presentation of the trophy in Madrid.
Before entering the Town Hall Morata and Rodri sang “Gibraltar is Spanish”, a motto that the midfielder repeated on the stage set up in the Plaza de Cibeles, and which was chanted by the public who gathered there.
The songs caused discomfort among the Gibraltarian authorities and the Football Federation of the British colony publicly expressed its complaint about the attitude of the Spanish players and raised it with UEFA.
The investigation opened by UEFA could lead to a sporting sanction for the two players, who could face a two-match ban.
During the Euro Cup, UEFA sanctioned the Turkish national team defender Merih Demiral for carrying out, after scoring a goal against Austria, the gesture of the ‘Gray Wolves’, a far-right movement in the Ottoman country.
The Spanish Government asked not to remove the chants from the context and through its spokesperson, Minister Pilar Alegría, said: “If the context is always important, in the case of the demonstrations and the chants that occurred yesterday there were even more.”
On the contrary, the Gibraltar chief minister, Fabian Picardo, declared: “Mixing a sporting victory and the chant that glorifies the dictatorial policy of a mass murderer like Franco and the attempt of his fascist regime to usurp a neighboring territory, which is also a UEFA nation, it is worse than disgusting.”
