After England advanced to the last eight of the European Championship, Portuguese media "A BOLA" reported after the game that Bellingham "crotched" the Slovak bench after scoring a goal, and said that the referee on duty should send Bellingham off with a red card.
Bellingham also explained the celebration himself after the game. He said it was a joke with his friends who watched the game and that he had a lot of respect for the Slovak team. Portuguese media outlet A BOLA is still unrelenting, saying in their report that the UEFA disciplinary committee is already investigating the matter, and Bellingham faces a ban and is in danger of missing the quarter-final against Switzerland.
In response to the report of the Portuguese media outlet A BOLA, the English media outlet The Sun quickly responded. According to The Sun, none of UEFA officials mentioned Bellingham's gesture in the match report. UEFA will not take any disciplinary action against Bellingham at this stage.
Meanwhile, at the final whistle, Rice had a heated altercation with Slovakia coach Francisco Karzona.
The Sun also confirmed that Rice will not be affected in any way by the post-match clash. That means the midfield pair should be able to play in next Saturday's quarter-final against Switzerland, barring injury.
In fact, even if UEFA mentions Bellingham's "crotch celebration", the England midfielder will most likely not be banned. Because such celebrations are not uncommon in world football, Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo did it during his time at Juventus.
In the 2019 Champions League, Atletico Madrid and Juventus met in the knockout stages. In the first leg, Atletico Madrid beat Juventus 2-0, and Atletico Madrid coach Simeone made a job of "crotch celebration". In the second leg, Ronaldo scored a hat trick to lead Juventus to reverse and eliminate Atletico Madrid, and Ronaldo, who had revenge, responded to Simeone with a "crotch celebration". After the incident, Cristiano Ronaldo and Simeone were both fined 20,000 euros by UEFA and were not banned.
At 0:00 a.m. Beijing time on July 7, England will usher in the quarterfinals, and their opponent is the Swiss team that eliminated Italy. The midfield combination of Bellingham + Rice will be the key to England's victory.