The Spanish girlfriend of England midfielder Frank Lampard was barred from a British Airways flight to Germany after she argued with staff who told her she was carrying too much hand luggage, the airline said Saturday.

Elen Rives, 28, was angered to be told that she had too much hand luggage for the business class cabin on the flight to Stuttgart on Friday, British Airways said.

The Spaniard refused to allow her hand luggage, including a child's buggy, to be put in the aircraft's hold.

After she calmed down and apologized, Rives was allowed onto a flight later Friday.

She was due to watch 27-year-old Chelsea player Lampard face Paraguay in England's first World Cup fixture Saturday.

"Frank's partner was yellow-carded after she tried to board a plane with too much hand luggage and would not play ball with suggested alternatives," said a British Airways spokeswoman, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with airline policy. "But we made sure she jetted away on time to see Frank play Paraguay."

Lampard and Rives made no public comment about the incident.