The Tottenham midfielder was caught on camera making an offensive gesture during England’s 2-1 win over Slovakia at Wembley last night soon after he was denied a free kick.
There were allegations it was aimed at French referee Clement Turpin, but the 21-year-old went on social media to insist it was a light-hearted exchange with England right-back and former Spurs team-mate Kyle Walker.
Fifa can apply retrospective action if the incident is included in Turpin’s match report, which may lead to a ban for the final two World Cup qualifiers against Slovenia and Lithuania next month.
Speaking to Standard Sport, Hart revealed that Alli is fully aware that he was in the wrong and said: “The world is watching and Dele appreciates that.
“He is a young, expressive guy who is trying to get to the peak of his game. Sometimes he is going to do things that not everyone is going to agree with.
“I think we all know what has gone on — and no-one has got hurt from it, let’s be honest.
“Luckily it was after the watershed but kids are watching, Dele appreciates that. I’m sure it will be dealt with in the right way.”
Alli has been questioned over his temperament since breaking into Tottenham’s first team in 2015.
Among several high-profile incidents, he was banned retrospectively for three games in 2016 for punching West Brom’s Claudio Yacob in the stomach. He will also miss the first three matches of Tottenham’s Champions League campaign this season after being sent off in the Europa League match against Gent in February.
When asked if it is better for Alli to realise he has an issue now, Hart added: “Yes, but it’s a tough one in football because not everyone is the same character.
“Sometimes the best players, the most expressive players, have got something about them. Obviously, you want to angle it and you want to get the best out of them.
“Sometimes you have to deal with situations, but if that’s the worst thing that’s going to come out of the game, we are doing pretty well as a squad.”
England can guarantee top spot in Group F with a win in their next game at home to Slovenia on October 5.
It took an inspired display by Marcus Rashford, though, to help England secure three points against Slovakia.
The 19-year-old Manchester United striker, making just his third start, set up Eric Dier’s equaliser in the first half before firing home the winner after the break.
Rashford’s performance was all the more noteworthy because he gave the ball away in the third minute, which led to Slovakia opening the scoring.
Hart, who is on loan at West Ham from Manchester City, feels Rashford has the temperament to be a key player for England.
“He has won an important game for England and put one foot on the plane (to be in the World Cup squad),” said the keeper. “He doesn’t play with any fear and it’s the beauty of him, he just plays how he plays because he loves football. Long may that continue.
“We have to support him — it is our duty as senior players to support him. I’d like to think it is our duty as a nation to support people like him.
“You just don’t get an ego with Marcus. You just get positive energy and all sorts of talent and ability.
“You wouldn’t think for a second that he is a 19-year-old superstar. Luckily he is a genuine happy-go-lucky guy off the field and then you get him over the line and he is ripping people apart.
“But if you look at him, he’s grown about five inches and he’s not even finished maturing yet.”
England’s victory came just three days after fans turned on the players during a 4-0 win in Malta. In contrast, Spain were heavily praised for the way they comfortably beat Italy 3-0 24 hours later.
A crowd of just 67,823 were at Wembley to see England struggle to overcome Slovakia, but Hart insists there are plenty of reasons to be positive.
He concluded: “The character we have is good, the character is strong. Friday could have been a testing night for us. It didn’t go to plan in terms of wanting to win comfortably, but Malta made it difficult.
“The fans obviously had things to say, but we stayed calm and we did that again last night. We went 1-0 down, but I think we dominated the game. I think Slovakia would have done cartwheels if they’d got the draw because we pummelled them really.
“Spain had a great game against Italy and it was fantastic to watch, but they don’t do that every time. No-one is really dominating world football at the moment, especially in Europe. We just have to look after ourselves, we can only qualify — that’s the only objective we can get out of this group. We are very close to doing that with two games to go.”