UEFA announced Thursday that it has opened up an investigation into four Real Madrid players for “indecent conduct” during the second leg of their round of 16 tie at Atletico Madrid in the Champions League on March 12.
“A UEFA Ethics and Disciplinary Inspector has been appointed to investigate allegations of indecent conduct by Real Madrid CF players (Antonio Rudiger, Kylian Mbappe, Daniel Ceballos Fernandez and Vinicius Junior) during the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 match between Club Atlético de Madrid and Real Madrid CF on 12 March 2025,” the governing body said in a statement.
Though UEFA did not specify what incident they were specifically looking into, the investigation will reportedly focus on the Real Madrid players’ conduct during their post-match celebrations, per The Athletic. The four of them were dancing while facing their fans, though Atletico fans were naturally able to see their celebrations and began to throw objects at them. All four players are being accused of making gestures at the Atletico fans as they left the pitch, with Rudiger allegedly making a throat-slitting gesture while Ceballos and Mbappe potentially made inappropriate gestures towards the crowd. Vinicius was allegedly also spotted making a gesture with his hands.
It is unclear what punishments could come down, if any, though the laws of the game state that “offensive, insulting or abusive language and/or action(s)” or “acting in a provocative, derisory or inflammatory way” could be a red card offense. Should any of the players be penalized, it could impact their ability to play in the first leg of their quarterfinal tie against Arsenal on April 8.
The news adds another layer of drama to an entertaining game in Madrid earlier this month, which went all the way to penalty kicks before reigning champions Real Madrid advanced to the next round. Real Madrid carried a 2-1 lead into the second leg but Atletico Madrid leveled the aggregate score within a minute thanks to Conor Gallagher’s quick goal. Vinicius had the chance to give Real Madrid the lead on aggregate with a second-half penalty but sent the ball over the net and set things up for extra time and then penalty kicks.
Real Madrid went on to win the shootout 4-2, with Alvarez’s penalty being invalidated after the ball landed in the back of the net. While the penalty shootout continued, the referees concluded that he took two touches on the ball and so his strike did not count. Rudiger later went on to score the winning penalty for Los Blancos.
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