Dele Alli, banned for one England game following gesture.
England midfielder, Dele Alli, has been banned for one international match following his middle-finger gesture during the World Cup qualifier against Slovakia.
The Tottenham player was also fined 5,000 Swiss francs (£3,852) by Fédération Internationale de Football Association, Fifa, who says the incident on 4 September was “offensive and unsporting”.
The midfielder will miss Thursday’s World Cup qualifier at home to Slovenia.
The 21-year-old, Alli, will be available for the game against Lithuania on Sunday.
Alli said his gesture was aimed at former Spurs team-mate Kyle Walker during the 77th minute of the 2-1 win in Group F.
The incident occurred after Alli was body-checked by Slovakia defender Martin Skrtel, and referee Clement Turpin waved play on.
It initially appeared that Alli gestured towards the official, with whom he also had words when he was substituted in the 93rd minute.
A Fifa statement said: “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.”
