Dele Alli in trouble
LONDON. — FIFA are “gathering evidence” before deciding whether to punish Dele Alli for his obscene gesture during England’s 2-1 victory over Slovakia on Monday night.
The incident took place in the 76th minute of the match at Wembley after the 21-year-old was denied a free-kick following a tackle from Martin Skrtel.
Alli apologised on social media after the match, claiming the gesture was intended for team-mate Kyle Walker and not French referee Clement Turpin.
Television pictures showed Tottenham’s Alli gesturing in the 77th minute of Monday night’s 2-1 victory at Wembley.
The incident occurred after he was body-checked by Skrtel, and referee Clement Turpin waved play on.
“Just to clarify, the gesture was a joke between me and my good friend Kyle Walker,” Alli wrote on Twitter. “Apologies for any offence caused.” England were left fearing disciplinary action against Alli after the midfielder was caught on camera making an obscene gesture against Slovakia.
England manager Gareth Southgate played down the incident, saying Alli had been sharing a joke with team-mate Walker, but if FIFA decide to investigate, the 21-year-old could face punishment.
“I’ve not seen it, but I’ve been made aware of it,” Southgate said in his post-match press conference.
“Kyle and Dele were mucking about and Dele’s made a gesture towards Kyle. I don’t know what the angle picked up by the camera is, so I don’t know if that is clear (who it was aimed at).
“The pair of them have a strange way of communicating! But that’s what they’ve said when it’s been raised.”It was not clear from footage of the match who Alli had aimed his gesture at.
In a recent precedent, Lionel Messi was given a four-game ban for swearing at an assistant referee during a World Cup qualifier between Argentina and Chile in March, although his suspension was overturned on appeal.