UEFA are frowning on Wales players’ “pitch-encroaching” kids

Given some of the headlines we've read about football's governing bodies in recent years, you'd think the folks at UEFA would have more important things to be unhappy about than this...

Wales' Euro 2016 run has been one of the stories of the sporting year and the heartwarming images of their players celebrating on the pitch with their children were beamed to every corner of the globe following their last 16 triumph over Northern Ireland. We saw more of the same when the Welsh beat Belgium in the quarter-final in Lille last Friday night. Enough to bring a smile to anyone's face, isn't it? Apart from the killjoys at UEFA, that is. According to David Griffiths, president of the Welsh Football Association, the governing body for football in Europe have frowned upon it. "UEFA [is] frowning on it unfortunately because it's encroachment on the pitch," he is quoted as saying in an article in The Telegraph. "But the team is run like a family and the boys have been together for so long." Unbelievable. Wales will look to book a place in Sunday's Euro 2016 final when they face Portugal in the last four on Wednesday evening. If they do it, we're sure the majority of those watching won't begrudge the players some on-pitch celebrations with their kids.