EURO 2024 SUBSTITUTE BOOKED AS HE ENTERS PITCH AS REFEREE APPLIES RARELY USED LAW

Georgia international Giorgi Gvelesiani was booked just seconds after coming on thanks to a rare rule being implemented at Euro 2024.

The eastern European nation currently sit bottom of Group F after Saturday's 1-1 draw with Czech Republic that leaves them requiring an unlikely victory over Portugal in their final group game.

With 10 minutes left of regulation time, Georgia's head coach Willy Sagnol - a World Cup winner with France - made two changes as he brought on Saba Lobzhanidze and Giorgi Gvelesiani.

The latter, 33, was certainly eager to get on the pitch as he took to the grass before the substitution was officially made. After being told of his mistake, the defender ran back to the sideline where he was shown a yellow card by German referee Daniel Siebert.

Siebert applied the rule in IFAB's Laws of the Game which states in Law 12.3 that a player can be cautioned for "entering or re-entering the field of play without the referee’s permission".

The rule break occurred while the Czechs were also in the process of making two substitutions, meaning Gvelesiani should have waited on the sidelines. The game ended 1-1 which Georgia initially led thanks to Georges Mikautadze's penalty before Patrick Schick levelled the scoring in the second half for his first goal of the tournament.

With Georgia on the verge of exiting the competition, it's been a disappointing showing from their star man Kvicha Kvaratskhelia whose future has been the source of major speculation over the past few days.

His agent Mamuka Jugeli stunningly said that he and the winger want to depart Napoli due to the club's absence from the Champions League next season after finishing 10th in Serie A this past season.

Jugeli told Georgian outlet Imedi : "I don’t want people to think that Kvara wants to stay at Napoli. We want to leave, but we are waiting for the end of the Euros so as not to disturb Khvicha. The priority is to join a team that plays in the Champions League."

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2024-06-22T15:45:37Z dg43tfdfdgfd