Austria striker Marko Arnautovic has been banned for one game by Uefa following his goal celebration against North Macedonia on Sunday, it has been confirmed.
The former Stoke and West Ham frontman, who is currently playing his football in China with Shanghai Port, was restrained by skipper David Alaba as he gestured angrily after scoring late in Sunday’s 3-1 Group C victory in Bucharest.
Uefa have found Arnautovic to be in contravention of article 15(1)(a)(iv) of their disciplinary regulations after “insulting another player”.
He will now miss Austria’s clash with the Netherlands on Thursday.
The incident came in the 89th minute of the game at the National Arena in Bucharest when, after beating North Macedonia keeper Stole Dimitrievski, Arnautovic, who is of Serbian heritage, appeared to make comments towards opposition players and then turned towards spectators.
Reports have alleged his initial remarks were aimed at defender Egzon Bejtulai and Gjanni Alioski, who both have Albanian roots.
Arnautovic later 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.”
