Euro 2020: Marko Arnautovic banned for one match for insulting another player in Austria’s win over North Macedonia

Marko Arnautovic has been given a one-match ban for insulting another player during Austria’s 3-1 victory over North Macedonia at Euro 2020.

On Tuesday, June 15, it was revealed that UEFA had appointed an ethics and disciplinary inspector to investigate Arnautovic’s outburst and there were suggestions that if he was found guilty, he could miss the tournament.

He allegedly made a racial slur following his late strike, saying ‘I’m f***ing your Albanian mother’ in the direction of Ezgjan Alioski, according to Koha.

But UEFA’s ruling makes no reference to racism, saying the tournament organisers said in a statement that its appeals” body had decided to “suspend Austrian Football Association player, Marko Arnautovic, for the next (1) UEFA representative team competition match for which he would be otherwise eligible, for insulting another player”.

The forward will now miss Austria’s Group C match against the Netherlands in Amsterdam on Thursday.

Last week, Arnautovic apologised for his outburst but insisted he was not a racist.

In a post on his official Instagram account, he wrote: ‘There were some heated words yesterday in the emotions of the game for which I would like to apologise – especially to my friends from North Macedonia and Albania.

‘I would like to say one thing very clearly: I am not a racist. I have friends in almost every country and I stand for diversity. Everyone who knows me is aware of that.’