West Ham United captain Declan Rice has received a two-game ban from UEFA after ranting at a referee.
Rice was filmed hurling abuse at official Jesus Gil Manzano following Eintracht Frankfurt’s Europa League semi-final second leg win over the Hammers back in May, accusing the Spanish referee of ‘corruption’.
“Ref, ref, it’s so poor, all night, it’s so bad. How can you be that bad, honestly? You’ve probably been f****** paid. F****** corruption,” Rice said.
Manager David Moyes – who said West Ham would not punish Rice for his outburst – and Aaron Cresswell were sent off in the defeat at Frankfurt and will serve one-game bans. They will miss the first leg of their Europa Conference League play-off in August, while Rice will be absent for both games.
West Ham have additionally been fined £1,500 after fans brought fireworks into the Waldstadion, while Frankfurt will have to play one game behind closed doors – though this has been suspended for two years – and fined £69,000 for other offences.
