OFF THE HOOK

Dele to escape lengthy ban after obscene gesture

DELE ALLI is expected to escape a lengthy ban for his offensive middlefinger gesture on Monday night.

FIFA are looking into the incident but have stopped short of launching a formal investigation and the FA are confident the Tottenham star will be free to line up at next summer’s World Cup.

Alli was initially accused of aiming the gesture at referee Clement Turpin after television cameras spotted the midfielder’s signal in the 76th minute of the win over Slovakia.

England manager Gareth Southgate claimed it was made towards right back Kyle Walker and new footage has since emerged which appears to back that up. Sportsmail understands the FA have additional camera angles which confirm Alli’s gesture was directed at his former Spurs team-mate.

For those reasons, Wembley chiefs believe Alli will escape a lengthy ban, which could have ruled him out of the opening game of next summer’s

World Cup in Russia, assuming England qualify. FIFA, who will consider the referee’s report before deciding whether to launch an investigation, could reprimand Alli for the gesture given it is not in keeping with the spirit of the game. But that would be far less severe than if FIFA ruled the gesture was directed at French official Turpin. England goalkeeper Joe Hart is confident Alli will learn from this latest incident. ‘The world is watching and Dele appreciates that,’ said Hart. ‘He’s a young, expressive guy and sometimes he is going to do things that not everyone is going to agree with. No one has got hurt from it. Luckily it was after the watershed but kids are watching, Dele appreciates that. ‘Not everyone is the same character. Sometimes the best players, the most expressive players, have got something about them.’