Apologising for any offence caused, Alli made it clear that his middle-finger gesture during Monday night’s 2-1 win over Slovakia was aimed at his team-mate Kyle Walker rather than any of the officials.
Article 49.1.a of the FIFA disciplinary code says “the overall suspension shall be for at least four matches for unsporting conduct towards a match official”.
However, television replays aired by ITV seem to back up Alli’s explanation that “the gesture was a joke between me and my good friend Kyle Walker”.
The FA say they also have footage that has not yet been broadcast that further supports the explanation.
The incident occurred just after play was waved despite Alli feeling he was body-checked by Martin Skrtel. Referee Clement Turpin is vaguely in the line of sight between Alli and Walker, but the Manchester City defender clearly reacts to the signal by throwing out his arms, suggesting he felt the gesture was meant for him.
Even if FIFA decide that, in balance of probabilities, Alli was not aiming his misconduct at the match officials, the Tottenham playmaker could still be in the dock under Article 57.
That rule states: “Anyone who insults someone in any way, especially by using offensive gestures or languages, or whose behaviour is unsporting in any other way may be subject to sanctions.”
Those sanctions range from anything from a warning to a possible ban, but while the mood within FIFA is to clamp down hard on any disrespect towards officials, there are simply too many qualifying matches taking place for them to devote too much time to investigating a “silly” but harmless exchange between team-mates.
An assessment will be made in the coming days by a disciplinary panel involving at least three members from around the world and although action can still be taken even if the incident is not mentioned in the referee’s report, FIFA are in no rush to reach a judgment.
“Please note that we’re gathering evidence and cannot comment further at this stage,” a spokesman said yesterday.
Argentina’s Lionel Messi served one match of a similar four-match ban for swearing at the assistant referee during a 1-0 win against Chile in March before successfully appealing on the grounds of insufficient evidence.
The mandatory FIFA punishment only counts in official FIFA-controlled matches, which if England were to qualify automatically rather than through the play-offs, would have meant Alli missing the first two group games of the 2018 World Cup, in a similar way to Wayne Rooney sitting out the start of Euro 2012 after being sent off against Montenegro.