The Portuguese Football Federation has denied that Raul Meireles made an inappropriate gesture at the referee after Pepe’s sending-off in the 4-0 defeat to Germany.

Cameras appeared to capture the Portugal midfielder giving Milorad Mazic the finger after the Serbian official had produced the controversial red card. However, the federation said on Tuesday that Meireles was simply issuing tactical instructions to his team-mate Bruno Alves.

Mehr Raúl Meirelles wagen! Viel viel mehr! pic.twitter.com/gUwBrR7qm3 — benny berger (@benny_berger) June 16, 2014

Its statement said: “The FPF, contrary to what was conveyed in the media and on social networks, flatly denies the athlete Raul Meireles has done any incorrect gesture following Pepe’s red card.

“The FPF clarifies that the gesture was misunderstood. Meireles headed to his colleague Bruno Alves and only conveyed the instructions of the coach Paulo Bento following the card.

“Raul Meireles just explained that he was moving back into central defence to play on the right side of the defensive axis.”

It is unlikely Fifa will take any action, especially as closer inspection reveals Meireles was holding up the index fingers of each hand rather than the middle ones.

Portugal’s coach Paulo Bento may not be so lucky though, after he accused the referee of showing bias towards Germany in his side’s heavy defeat. “There were two occasions when the referee showed bias, first with the penalty and then with the sending off,” said Bento. “I am not saying it was only the referee’s fault. We also made mistakes but the circumstances of what happened in the first half made the rest of the game difficult for us.”