Rodri, Alvaro Morata banned for Gibraltar chants

UEFA have punished Spain internationals Álvaro Morata and Rodri with a one-match ban for singing about a sovereignty claim on Gibraltar at the team’s European Championship title celebration.

The Gibraltar football federation had filed a complaint to UEFA after Morata, who captained Spain to Euro 2024 glory in Germany, and Rodri led thousands of fans singing “Gibraltar is Spanish” at a celebration in Madrid on July 14.

UEFA’s disciplinary body banned both 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.”

Both players will miss Spain’s UEFA Nations League group opener at Serbia on Sept. 5.

Gibraltar is located on the southern tip of Spain and has been a British overseas territory for more than 300 years.