FIFA receives complaint about England player before Panama World Cup game
The World Cup has seen some controversial moments in its current two-week run, which has now seen an England player receiving a complaint by another competing team.
You might remember a little something happening during the 23 June England game against Ghana, which saw both parties end up with a 0-0 scorecard.
However, it wasn’t the lack of goals that had Paraguay riled up.
Instead, the match showed a moment between rising star Jude Bellingham and Ghana’s Jordan Ayew, which led to the complaint.
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It all began when Bellingham spoke with Ayew, but covered his mouth, leaving people guessing what he had said.
But the thing that has Paraguay upset is the fact that Bellingham didn’t get carded for the perceived offence after Paraguay’s Miguel Almirón was sent off for doing the very same thing during their match with Turkey at the weekend when the VAR stepped in.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino spoke on the World Cup rule, explaining that it was ‘about respect’.
You see, allegedly, Almiron’s mouth covering came with homophobic slurs, whilst Bellingham apparently wasn’t coming at it in a confrontational manner.
Hence why Almiron was carded and Bellingham wasn’t.
But Paraguay’s head coach, Gustavo Alfaro, called on FIFA to ensure a ‘level playing field’ for all teams.
He said per Metro: “We have no intention of getting involved in any controversy.
“The only thing we said at the time of Miguel’s incident was that I saw two Turkish players who came and didn’t ask me politely about the things they said to us on the bench… are we going to end up with some hairdresser’s gossip? ‘Hey, hey, come here, he’s insulting me.’
“That’s it, it’s over, period. We accept it, it’s a rule,” he said.
“Luckily they gave us a date. Hopefully, as I said, we’ll progress and have him available. That’s where our part ends.
"I’m not a judge to decide if it’s right or wrong. All I’ve always asked for is a level playing field. I told the referee the other day: ‘Look, Turkey has more than enough of a team to beat us, let them beat us.’ I want a level playing field. As for everything that happens outside, that’s it, it’s not our place to comment or get involved in that.”
Anyway, Bellingham has since been accused of going on an X-rated rant by Ghana manager Carlos Queiroz.
Speaking about the moment, Queiroz claimed Bellingham 'had a bad reaction with some bad names', though didn’t make it seem like a serious incident.
So, we’ll have to see what happens in future mouth-covering interactions and how the rules are applied.
Topics: Sport, World Cup, Jude Bellingham
Britt Jones