REAL MADRID stars Kylian Mbappe and Antonio Rudiger have been cleared to face Arsenal in next week’s Champions League quarter-final – after escaping with SUSPENDED bans.
Uefa launched an investigation last week after Atletico Madrid accused the duo and team-mates Vinicius Jr and Dani Ceballos of “indecent conduct”; following their shoot-out win in the last 16 tie at the Metropolitano.
Former Chelsea defender Rudiger, who scored the decisive penalty, was accused of making a throat-slitting gesture to home supporters.
French ace Mbappe, who had earlier missed a spot-kick in normal time but converted in the shoot-out, was reported for touching his genitals in a clearly derogatory manner.
Vinicius, long targeted by rival fans and who has been a regular victim of racist abuse, was involved in two separate confrontations with Atletico supporters before and after the shoot-out while Ceballos aimed a one-armed gesture with a clenched fist at home fans.
That raised the prospect of the quartet all being suspended for the first leg of the tie with the Gunners at the Emirates on Tuesday.
A probe saw a Uefa Ethics and Disciplinary Inspector decide there was no case to answer for Vinicius Jr while the other three were accused of “violating the basic rules of decent conduct”;.
But now Uefa’s Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body has backed off serious action despite finding the three players guilty.
Rudiger was handed a one-match ban, suspended for 12 months, and fined £34,000, with Mbappe given the same suspended punishment and fined around £25,000, with Caballos facing no ban and ordered to pay £17,000.
A Uefa statement read: “
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