GARETH BALE

is at risk of a 12-game La Liga ban for his celebration in Real Madrid’s 3-1 win against Atletico Madrid last week. In a statement, La Liga’s organising body said Bale ‘lifted his right arm near his head in a clear sign of provocation towards the fans, then giving a gesture which could be seen as obscene and disdainful by folding his arm and striking it with his other hand’. Bale — who scored Real’s third goal — is set to be banned for between four and 12 games. It is interpreted in