“It’s too much” - Arsenal legend Ian Wright publicly hits out at ‘ridiculous’ UEFA rule at Euro 2024
Arsenal legend Ian Wright has publicly criticised a UEFA rule regarding suspensions at Euro 2024, calling it "ridiculous." As it stands, picking up two yellow cards from the start of the tournament until the end of the quarter-final stage will result in a suspension.
The rules also dictate that the count for the bookings are reset by the start of the semi-finals. This means that getting booked with a yellow card in the semi-finals will not automatically result in suspension for a player.
A number of players from the Spain national team will miss out on the semi-finals after picking up bookings in their Euro 2024 quarter-final clash against Germany. This baffled Ian Wright, who questioned the rule on ITV (via Metro):
"That’s ridiculous. We’re five games in now so you can get booked in the first game and then the fourth game and miss the semi-final. It’s too much. When these players [for Spain] settle down, some of them will realise they’re missing a semi-final."
Roy Keane responded to him, arguing that the players were already aware of the rules:
"They won’t be too worried in the dressing room. You’ve won the game and you’ve got a squad of players. You have to deal with. It could be worse, you could miss a final. At least there’s an opportunity to get to the final. I do agree but players know the rules and there were some daft yellow cards there, you can’t defend them that much."
Spain will face France in the Euro 2024 semi-finals on July 9. England face Switzerland in their quarter-final clash, while the Netherlands will face Turkiye. The winners of these games will meet in the semi-finals.
France beat Portugal, Spain beat Germany in Euro 2024 quarter-finals
France needed to get to penalties to secure their berth in the Euro 2024 semi-finals, as they spent 120 minutes struggling to score against Portugal. The Selecao and their captain, Cristiano Ronaldo, have now bowed out of the competition.
For Spain and Germany, there were more goals from open play. The Spaniards scored first, as an impressive effort from Dani Olmo put them in the lead. However, the Germans equalised through Florian Wirtz late in the second half. It took till the near end of extra time for Spain to get ahead through Mikel Merino.
Now, both France and Spain will have to battle in the Euro 2024 semi-finals. In the meantime, they will wait for their potential opponents in the final to come out of the remaining quarter-final games.