Goal Celebration - Punishment

Punishment

According to the rules of the games (Law 12):

While it is permissible for a player to demonstrate his joy when a goal has been scored, the celebration must not be excessive.

In recent seasons, FIFA have attempted to crack down on some of the more enthusiastic celebrations. If a player incites the crowd and/or takes his shirt off after scoring a goal he is likely to get booked by the referee. This can cause huge controversy if the player has already been booked, since he would then be sent off. However, some players get around this rule by pulling the hem of their shirts over the head, without taking the shirt off entirely, but this is not always overturned by the referees. Some players were receiving fines for dropping their shorts after scoring.

Jumping into the crowd is also a bookable offence ("deliberately leaving the field of play without the referee's permission", as identified in Law 12).

Players might be also fined for revealing t-shirts which contain some kind of message directed to the spectators. Notable examples include Robbie Fowler being fined for showing a t-shirt which was designed to show support for the Liverpool dockers' strike incorporating the Calvin Klein 'CK' into the word doCKer and Thierry Henry, who was fined by UEFA after he removed his Arsenal shirt to reveal a t-shirt reading "For the new-born Kyd", which was directed to his friend, Texas lead singer Sharleen Spiteri, who had just given birth. In 1999, Fowler was also fined £60,000 by his club and the Premier League for having celebrated his penalty goal against Everton by getting down on all fours and miming the snorting of cocaine off of the white touchline. Although it was seen as Fowler's response to being accused of drug abuse in the tabloid press, then-manager Gérard Houllier famously claimed that he was merely imitating "a cow eating grass".

Boca Juniors striker Carlos Tévez was sent off when celebrating a goal against arch-rivals River Plate during the 2004 Copa Libertadores, imitating a chicken, clearly mocking the opposite crowd, in spite of not being booked previously.

Paolo Di Canio made his mark in 2006, when during his period at Lazio, he made a fascist salute to the right-wing fans. He was fined and suspended as a result.

Ipswich Town player David Norris received a fine after using a hand cuff gesture to celebrate scoring against Blackpool in November 2008, dedicating the goal to ex-teammate Luke McCormick who was jailed for death by dangerous driving, although people are never arrested with their arms crossed and held aloft. Everton midfielder Tim Cahill received a similar fine for a similar gesture in a match on 2 March 2008, a similar incident took place in Chelsea versus Middlesbourgh when teammate Salomon Kalou scored a brace and thereafter crossing hands with teammate Didier Drogba, it was later revealed that he said he wanted to try out a new celebration and was not supporting an Ivorian convictionist.

In a 2009 Premier League match between Manchester City and Arsenal, City striker Emmanuel Adebayor received a yellow card for running the length of the pitch to celebrate his goal in front of the Arsenal fans. This was seen as controversial because Adebayor signed for Manchester City that summer from Arsenal.