UEFA is investigating a possible breach of its disciplinary rules after Rodri and Alvaro Morata sang “Gibraltar is Spanish” at Spain's Euro 2024 celebrations on Monday.
Luis de la Fuente's side beat England 2-1 in Berlin to win the cup for a record fourth time but Morata and Rodri hit the headlines for the wrong reasons 24 hours after taking to the stage in front of thousands of fans at the Plaza. de Cibeles.
Spain captain Morata reminded Rodri that he plays for England but the Manchester City midfielder replied: “I don't care.”
Rodri: Gibraltar is Spanish.
Morata: You play in England, mate.
Rodri: I didn't care that much. pic.twitter.com/cfgClNDBto
— Zach Lowy (@ZachLowy) July 15, 2024
Gibraltar has been in British hands since 1713 and UEFA launched an investigation to see if the players were out of line.
The UEFA statement reads: “A UEFA Ethics and Disciplinary Regulations inspector has been appointed to investigate the violation of UEFA Disciplinary Regulations by the players Rodrigo Hernández Cascante and Álvaro Morata in the context of the conduct that occurred during the public presentation of the UEFA EURO 2024. trophy in Madrid on the 15 July 2024.”
Gibraltar's government was not happy with the players' comments, which they described earlier this week as “bad”.
It said: “His Majesty's Government of Gibraltar is disappointed to note that several players from the Spanish men's national football team celebrated their European Cup victory with songs that made sarcastic remarks about Gibraltar.”
“This is an unnecessary conflation of great sporting success with bigoted political statements that deeply offend Gibraltarians. The sad use of the stadium to celebrate winning the Eurocup by promoting the idea of usurping the territory of Gibraltar is contrary to the principle that sport should not be used to advance any controversial political ideas.”
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