Bellingham free to play quarter-final after being given suspended ban

Jude Bellingham is free to play in England’s Euro 2024 quarter-final against Switzerland on Saturday after being given a one-match suspended ban and fine for a gesture he made in the last-16 win over Slovakia.

The 21-year-old’s ban is suspended for a year and he has also been fined £25,400 (30,000 Euros).

The midfielder’s crotch-grabbing gesture towards the Slovakian bench after scoring a late equaliser in the 2-1 victory was investigated by Uefa.

Bellingham, who has made the gesture while playing for his club side Real Madrid, denied that it was aimed at England’s opponents.

Responding to the incident on social media, Bellingham said it was “an inside-joke gesture towards some close friends who were at the game”, adding he had “nothing but respect for how Slovakia played”.

England play Switzerland in Dusseldorf at 17:00 BST in a match that will be live on BBC One, BBC Radio 5 Live and the BBC Sport website and app. All 26 players in manager Gareth Southgate’s squad trained on Friday morning.

While Bellingham is available for Saturday’s match, Turkey defender Merih Demiral has been handed a two-match ban for a gesture he made during his side’s last-16 win against Austria.

Demiral, 26, scored both of Turkey’s goals in the 2-1 win and celebrated his second goal with a ‘wolf salute’.

The gesture, which is banned in Austria and France, is associated with the far-right extremist group Grey Wolves that is closely linked with Turkey’s ruling coalition party the National Movement Party.

Turkey face the Netherlands in Berlin, with the game kicking off at 20:00.