Liverpool star ‘faces’ FA ‘reprimand’ over celebration in ‘Premier League title party’
Liverpool forward Cody Gakpo ‘faces an FA reprimand’ after he revealed a ‘religious slogan’ during his side’s 5-1 win against Tottenham Hotspur.
Gakpo shone for Liverpool against Spurs on Sunday afternoon as they won 5-1 to clinch their 20th Premier League title.
Liverpool emphatically overcame Dominic Solanke’s early opener, with Gakpo netting their third goal before the interval after Luis Diaz and Alexis Mac Allister netted to turn the game around.
Arne Slot’s side added to their advantage after the break as Mohamed Salah netted before Destiny Udogie’s own goal made it five.
Gakpo produced an expert finish to net his 17th goal of the 2024/25 campaign in all competitions and he took off his shirt during his celebration to reveal a shirt with a “I belong to Jesus” slogan.
A report from The Telegraph points out that he could ‘face an FA reprimand’ as ‘action’ for his role in ‘Liverpool’s title party’.
Gakpo was shown a yellow card but he ‘could face further action’ as Law 4 of the International Football Association Board’s Laws of the game forbids players from displaying religious statements or slogans during matches.
The law states: “Equipment must not have any political, religious or personal slogans, statements or images. Players must not reveal undergarments that show political, religious, personal slogans, statements or images, or advertising other than the manufacturer’s logo.
“For any offence the player and/or the team will be sanctioned by the competition organiser, national football association or by Fifa.”
The report notes that the FA has been ‘approached for comment’, but they are yet to respond at the time of writing.
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This comes five months after shadow education minister, Neil O’Brien, accused the FA of creating a “two-tier mess” by ‘twice reminding Crystal Palace captain and devout Christian Marc Guehi of its rules for writing “I love Jesus” and “Jesus loves you” on his rainbow armband during the annual tie-up between the Premier League and LGBTQ+ charity Stonewall, while they ‘did not contact Ipswich Town captain Sam Morsy, who is Muslim, for refusing to wear one at all’.
O’Brien said: “People criticised Sam Morsy for not wearing a rainbow armband on weekend. Club said he was a Muslim, that was the end of it. FA ‘declined to comment’.”
He added: “What a total two-tier mess.”
On his conduct, Guehi said: “The message was just a message of truth and love and inclusivity to be honest.
“I don’t think the message was harmful in any way – that’s all I can really say about that to be honest.”
He added: “I believe 100% in the words that I wrote, even what I’ve just said now – it’s a message of truth and love, and I hope people can understand that my faith is my faith, and I’ll stand by it for the rest of my life.”
