Bellingham avoids immediate ban at Euro 2024 for offensive gesture but gets fined

Jude Bellingham has avoided an immediate ban after the England midfielder appeared to make an offensive gesture while celebrating his crucial goal in the win over Slovakia at the European Championship. Bellingham will be available for the quarter-final against Switzerland on Saturday after UEFA on Friday imposed a one-game ban but said it “is not immediately enforced and is subject to a probationary period” of a year. England manager Gareth Southgate accepted the decision and said he didn’t feel the need to talk with Bellingham about his behaviour in future. The Real Madrid midfielder will also have to pay a fine of €30,000 euros ($44,342). UEFA said the punishment was “for violating the basic rules of decent conduct” in the Slovakia game.

UEFA suspends Turkey player for two games

BERLIN UEFA suspended Turkey player Merih Demiral for two matches on Friday for making a controversial hand gesture at the European Championship, an incident that has led to a diplomatic row between Turkey and host nation Germany. Turkey’s vice-president, Cevdet Yilmaz, denounced the decision as unacceptable and called for it to be “corrected.” The ban rules Demiral out of his team’s quarter-final against the Netherlands on Saturday, and the semi-final, should Turkey progress. The Netherlands is bidding to reach the semi-finals for the sixth time, and first since 2004. Turkey made it to the semi-finals in 2008.

Palestinian team plans to play World Cup qualifiers in the West Bank

After advancing further than ever in World Cup qualifying, the Palestinian soccer team is determined to host a game for a change. The football association has proposed playing games in the third stage of its Asian qualification campaign in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and already has support from a number of its opponents, starting against Jordan on Sept. 10. The Palestinian team progressed through the second round of continental qualifying for the first time in its history in June but, because of the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip, staged its “home” games in nearby Kuwait and Qatar. “Playing at a neutral venue isn’t permanent and was never meant to be so,” Susan Shabali, the PFA’s deputy president, told The Associated Press. The 12,500-capacity Faisal Al-Husseini International Stadium is situated in the West Bank town of Al Ram. In 2019, it hosted the team’s last competitive home game, a World Cup qualifier against Saudi Arabia that ended 0-0.