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Eurocup | Arnautovic is expensive for his celebration against Macedonia

Austrian forward Marko Arnautovic has been sanctioned with one match by the UEFA disciplinary commission for insulting one of his North Macedonia rivals in the first match in Group C of the European Championship on Sunday after scoring his third goal. Austria won 3-1.

The 32-year-old, one of the Austrian team’s great attacking assets, will then be absent tomorrow in Amsterdam in the clash against the Netherlands, which is likely to define the group, the Austrian Football Federation (ÖFB) reported in a statement.

During the celebration of his goal, Arnautovic appeared to address a racist and sexist insult to one of his rivals, Ezgjan Alioski.

The Macedonian player of Albanian origin said after the game that the Austrian, of Serbian origin, had apologized in the dressing room and that the matter was settled for him.

However, the North Macedonia federation demanded a sanction against Arnautovic in a formal protest to UEFA.

A Serbian tabloid newspaper claimed after the match that Arnautovic shouted: “I fuck your mother, shiptar”, a very derogatory word to refer to Albanians, although no other media, neither Austrian nor Serbian, have specified what the man shouted soccer player.

Arnautovic himself highlighted today, according to a statement from ÖFB, that he has “publicly apologized”, recalling that provocations from both sides took place during the match.

“But neither can provocations justify my behavior,” concluded the Chinese Shanghai Port player.

In addition, it announced that it will invest an additional 25,000 euros in an integration project, so that its “bad behavior also has a positive effect.”

De Boer on Arnautovic’s sanction: “For us it will be an advantage”

Netherlands coach Frank de Boer commented on Wednesday that the suspension of a match imposed by UEFA on Austrian forward Marko Arnautovic, who will not be able to play in Amsterdam tomorrow, will be an advantage for the Dutch.

“It is a shame for Austria, because he is a good player (…). They will miss him. In that sense, for us, it will be an advantage,” said De Boe.r upon learning at a press conference of the footballer’s suspension.

“Before the tournament I preferred Luuk, but now I have decided on Wout. He has performed very well in recent months and I think he deserves it,” De Boer said at the press conference prior to Thursday’s game against Austria at the Johan Stadium. Cruyff from Amsterdam at 21:00 CET (19:00 GMT).

The 28-year-old Weghorst, scorer of the second goal on Saturday in the Netherlands’ 3-2 win over Ukraine, also scored in the pre-tournament friendly against Georgia and is aiming as a starting striker against Austria alongside Memphis Depay.

De Jong, 30, replaced Weghorst in the 88th minute of the game against Ukraine.

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