Greenwood under UEFA investigation for obscene gesture after Fenerbahçe's qualification

UEFA has launched disciplinary proceedings against Mason Greenwood and Mattéo Guendouzi following the second leg of the Champions League playoff between Lyon and Fenerbahçe, which the Istanbul club won to secure qualification. Fenerbahçe confirmed the information and announced it would defend its players before European authorities.

During the match, Guendouzi — the former Olympique Marseille player — provoked the Lyon crowd after the final whistle. Greenwood also behaved reprehensibly: the English striker reproduced the rallying sign of Marseille rapper JUL, a gesture strongly associated with OM, before touching his genitals in the direction of Lyon supporters. Conduct that violates UEFA competition regulations.

Fenerbahçe responded officially: “Following the second leg of the UEFA Champions League playoffs, UEFA has opened disciplinary proceedings against our players Mattéo Guendouzi and Mason Greenwood, as well as against our club. Our club will present the necessary arguments before the competent UEFA authorities to protect the rights and interests of our players and Fenerbahçe during this procedure.”

The Bellingham precedent gives an idea of the potential sanction. At Euro 2024, the Real Madrid midfielder received a €30,000 fine and a one-match suspension with probation for a similar gesture, with UEFA’s disciplinary commission finding he had violated “the fundamental rules of good conduct.”

Greenwood, signed by Fenerbahçe after a season at Olympique Marseille, thus begins his Turkish adventure under disciplinary scrutiny. The 23-year-old striker, whose criminal history in England had already weighed on his Marseille spell, finds himself once again in the sights of authorities — this time for conduct on the pitch.