Manchester City superstar Rodri suspended after singing controversial chants

According to The Athletic, Alvaro Morata and Rodri have each received a one-match ban from UEFA for their misbehavior in Spain's Euro 2024 winners' procession.  After the two were seen on camera singing "It's Spanish, Gibraltar is Spanish," the Gibraltar Football Association filed a complaint with UEFA. The song was "very provocative and insulting," according to them.

The two had a microphone on stage in the presence of thousands of spectators, and when Morata reminded Rodri that he was from England and that Gibraltar is a part of the United Kingdom, he even indicated he didn't care.  The Gibraltarian FA filed an official complaint in response to this, and the Chief Minister of Gibraltar declared the shouts to be abhorrent, drawing comparisons to the language of the murderous Spanish dictator Francisco Franco.

The suspensions for Morata and Rodri are applicable to all UEFA competitions, which means their Nations League run will be affected. When Spain plays Serbia on September 5, the striker as well as the midfielder won't be available.

A statement issued by UEFA explained why Rodri and Morata had to be banned. It said, "failing to comply with the general principles of conduct, for violating the basic rules of decent conduct, for using sporting events for manifestations of a non-sporting nature and for bringing the sport of football, and UEFA in particular, into disrepute."

Will Rodri play in the Community Shield final against Manchester United?

Although the embargo is now in place, domestic fixtures will not be impacted. Morata is scheduled to be making his AC Milan debut versus Torino later this month, while Rodri is expected to feature for Manchester City this weekend versus Manchester United during the Community Shield.

Manchester City players that participated in the UEFA Euro 2024 final were Phil Foden, Rodri, Kyle Walker, and John Stones, have not yet resumed training and are likely to miss the match as they recover for the upcoming campaign. Guardiola has informed them that rather than coming back especially for the Community Shield, it is more crucial that they return whenever they start to feel hungry again.