The Royal Belgian Football Association have cautioned the 21-year-old Taiwo Awoniyi for showing off a bible verse while celebrating a goal.
The striker has been in good goal scoring form in recent weeks, his last strike earned him a spot in the Belgian Team of the week.
In the previous week, Awoniyi found the back of the net as Royal Excel Mouscron beat KAA Gent 2-1 in a Belgian First Division A encounter played on Sunday, February 10. Awoniyi put Royal Excel Mouscron ahead in the encounter when he converted a ball through to him by Manuel Benson in the 43rd minute. The Nigerian striker celebrated his goal by raising his jersey and showing off a verse from the bible.
The message on his shirt was, ”Fear God. Keep his commandments for this is the duty of man Ecclesiastes 12:13.”
The Belgian FA released a statement to give their thoughts on the actions of Awoniyi. One of the rules by the world football governing body FIFA says ”Players must not reveal undershirts which contain slogans or advertising. The basic compulsory equipment must not contain any political, religious or personal statements. ”A player removing his jersey to reveal slogans or advertising will be sanctioned by the competition organiser. ”The team of a player whose basic compulsory equipment contains political, religious or personal slogans or statements will be sanctioned by the competition organiser or by FIFA.”
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