UEFA is investigating a potential violation of its disciplinary regulations after Rodri and Alvaro Morata chanted “Gibraltar is Spanish” at Spain’s Euro 2024 celebrations on Monday.
Luis de la Fuente’s side beat England 2-1 in Berlin to claim the trophy for a record fourth time but Morata and Rodri hit the headlines for the wrong reasons 24 hours later when they took to the stage in front of thousands of fans at the Plaza de Cibeles.
Spain captain Morata reminded Rodri that he plays for an English club but the Manchester City midfielder replied: “I don’t care.”
Rodri: Gibraltar is Spanish.
Morata: You play in England, mate.
Rodri: I couldn’t care less. pic.twitter.com/cfgClNDBto
— Zach Lowy (@ZachLowy) July 15, 2024
Gibraltar has been in British hands since 1713 and UEFA has launched a probe to see if they players have stepped out of line.
A UEFA statement read: “A UEFA Ethics and Disciplinary Inspector is being appointed to evaluate a potential violation of the UEFA Disciplinary Regulations by the players Rodrigo Hernández Cascante and Álvaro Morata in the context of conduct that occurred during the public presentation of the UEFA EURO 2024 trophy in Madrid on 15 July 2024.”
The Gibraltar government was extremely unhappy with the players’ remarks, describing them earlier this week as “rancid”.
It said: “His Majesty’s Government of Gibraltar is disappointed to note that several players of the Spanish male national football team celebrated their European Cup win with chants of rancid remarks about Gibraltar.
“This is a totally unnecessary mixing of a great sporting success with discriminatory political statements that are hugely offensive to Gibraltarians. The lamentable use of the platform of celebrations around winning the Eurocup for advancing the idea of usurping the territory of Gibraltar is contrary to the principle that sport should not be used to advance any politically controversial ideology.”
