NYON, Switzerland (AP) — Real Madrid stars Kylian Mbappé and Antonio Rüdiger were fined by UEFA on Friday but escaped bans from the Champions League quarterfinals over “indecent” post-game celebrations in the previous round.
Mbappé and Rüdiger were both given a suspended one-game ban for “violating the basic rules of decent conduct,” UEFA said, but those are subject to a one-year probationary period.
Madrid plays at Arsenal on Tuesday in the first leg of the quarterfinals.
The charges followed Madrid players celebrating a penalty shootout win over city rival Atletico Madrid in the round of 16 on March 12.
Video clips circulating on social media showed Mbappé grabbing his crotch on the field.
UEFA said Rüdiger was fined 40,000 euros ($44,000) and Mbappé 30,000 euros ($33,000). A third Madrid player, Dani Ceballos, was fined 20,000 euros ($22,000) with no suspended ban.
UEFA said no charges were made against Vinícius Júnior, who also had been under investigation.
The probationary bans are the same sanction imposed on Jude Bellingham, another Madrid player, after a similar incident with England at the 2024 European Championship. Bellingham also was fined 30,000 ($33,000) for a crotch-grabbing gesture after scoring a stoppage-time equalizer against Slovakia.
Bellingham was still under his year of probation at the Atletico game where he, Mbappé and Rüdiger all scored their spot-kicks in the shootout. Atletico won the second leg 1-0 to tie the aggregate score at 2-2.
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Real Madrid's Antonio Rudiger reacts after the Spanish Copa del Rey semifinal second leg soccer match between Real Madrid and and Real Sociedad in Madrid, Spain Tuesday, April 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)
Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe celebrates after scoring during a Spanish La Liga soccer match between Real Madrid and Leganes at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Spain, Saturday, March 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. forces in the Caribbean Sea have seized another sanctioned oil tanker that the Trump administration says has ties to Venezuela, part of a broader U.S. effort to take control of the South American country’s oil.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem wrote on social media that the U.S. Coast Guard had boarded the Motor Tanker Veronica early Thursday. She said the ship had previously passed through Venezuelan waters and was operating in defiance of President Donald Trump’s "established quarantine of sanctioned vessels in the Caribbean.”
U.S. Southern Command said Marines and sailors launched from the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford to take part in the operation alongside a Coast Guard tactical team, which Noem said conducted the boarding as in previous raids. The military said the ship was seized “without incident.”
Noem posted a brief video that appeared to show part of the ship’s capture. The black-and-white footage showed helicopters hovering over the deck of a merchant vessel while armed troops dropped down on the deck by rope.
The Veronica is the sixth sanctioned tanker seized by U.S. forces as part of the effort by Trump’s administration to control the production, refining and global distribution of Venezuela’s oil products and the fourth since the U.S. ouster of Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro in a surprise nighttime raid almost two weeks ago.
The Veronica last transmitted its location on Jan. 3 as being at anchor off the coast of Aruba, just north of Venezuela’s main oil terminal. According to the data it transmitted at the time, it was partially filled with crude.
The ship is currently listed as flying the flag of Guyana and is considered part of the shadow fleet that moves cargoes of oil in violation of U.S. sanctions.
According to its registration data, the ship also has been known as the Gallileo, owned and managed by a company in Russia. In addition, a tanker with the same registration number previously sailed under the name Pegas and was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department for moving cargoes of illicit Russian oil.
As with prior posts about such raids, Noem and the military framed the seizure as part of an effort to enforce the law. Noem argued that the multiple captures show that “there is no outrunning or escaping American justice.”
However, other officials in Trump's Republican administration have made clear that they see the actions as a way to generate cash as they seek to rebuild Venezuela’s battered oil industry and restore its economy.
Trump met with executives from oil companies last week to discuss his goal of investing $100 billion in Venezuela to repair and upgrade its oil production and distribution. His administration has said it expects to sell at least 30 million to 50 million barrels of sanctioned Venezuelan oil.
This story has been corrected to show the Veronica is the fourth, not the third, tanker seized by U.S. forces since Maduro's capture and the ship also has been known as the Gallileo, not the Galileo.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks during a press conference, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks at a news conference at Harry Reid International Airport, Nov. 22, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ronda Churchill, File)
