Dele Alli gets one-match ban for middle-finger gesture

England midfielder fined £3,852 by Fifa for
‘offensive and unsporting’ incident

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The Spurs star has also been fined 5,000 Swiss francs (£3,852),
the BBC reports, after Fifa deemed the incident “offensive
and unsporting”. 

During the match against against Slovakia on 4
September, Alli was caught on camera raising his middle finger,
with some pundits saying that it was aimed towards match referee
Clement Turpin.

At the time the 21-year-old had insisted on
Twitter that the gesture “was a joke between me and my good friend
Kyle Walker”, but Fifa confirmed that even if it was directed at a
team-mate it was in violation of its disciplinary
code.

OFFICIAL: Dele Alli has been given a one-match ban by FIFA for his
gesture in the World Cup qualifier against Slovakia. pic.twitter.com/f6mHMo9Bmu — Squawka News
(@SquawkaNews) September 29, 2017

Fifa said in a statement: “Although the
disciplinary committee was not convinced that the player directed
the gesture at the referee, and regardless of whether it was
allegedly directed at a team-mate, it did consider such gesture to
be offensive and unsporting. Therefore it amounted to a violation
of article 57 of the Fifa disciplinary code.”

Originally named in Gareth Southgate’s 26-man squad for the October double-header,
Alli will next be available for the match on 8 October in
Lithuania – the final match of England’s World Cup qualifying
campaign.