West Bromwich Albion forward Nicolas Anelka has been banned for five matches and fined ￡80,000 (US$133,400) for making an alleged anti-Semitic gesture in a match in December last year, the Football Association (FA) said on Thursday.
The Frenchman, who made a “quenelle” salute after scoring in a 3-3 draw against West Ham United on Dec. 28, has also been ordered to complete a compulsory education course.
“An Independent Regulatory Commission has found an aggravated breach of FA Rule E3 against Nicolas Anelka proven and has issued a five-match suspension and a fine of ￡80,000, pending appeal,” the FA said in a statement.
The punishment will not be implemented until the outcome of any appeal or until the player informs the FA of his decision not to appeal.
However, West Brom suspended the player immediately until the conclusion of the governing body’s disciplinary process and will carry out their own internal investigation, the club said in a statement.
“The club cannot ignore the offense that his actions have caused, particularly to the Jewish community, nor the potential damage to the club’s reputation,” West Brom said.
The FA found Anelka guilty of making a gesture that “was abusive and/or indecent and/or insulting and/or improper.”
They also found it to be an “aggravated breach” in that it included “a reference to ethnic origin and/or race and/or religion or belief.”
The FA added in their statement that they “did not find that Nicolas Anelka is an anti-Semite, or that he intended to express or promote anti-Semitism by his use of the quenelle.”
Anelka had denied he was anti-Semitic or racist and claimed the gesture, which has been described as an inverted Nazi salute, was a tribute to his French comedian friend Dieudonne M’Bala M’Bala, who invented it.
West Brom said they were awaiting the written reasons for the panel’s decision, from which time Anelka has seven days to decide whether to appeal.
SSC Napoli’s Italian Serie A title hopes suffered a late setback on Sunday when they were held to a 2-2 draw at home against Genoa, setting up a thrilling season finale with closest rivals Inter just one point behind. The hosts remain top with 78 points, holding a slim lead over Inter, who won 2-0 at Torino earlier on Sunday, with two rounds remaining. To make matters worse for Napoli, midfielder Stanislav Lobotka, struggling with an ankle injury, was forced off just minutes after the match began. Scott McTominay delivered a perfect pass into the box where Romelu Lukaku got
Harry Kane opened the scoring ahead of lifting his first career silverware as Bayern Munich beat Borussia Moenchengladbach 2-0, with veteran Thomas Mueller playing his last home game for the club. Bayern officially won the title on May 4 when defending champions Bayer Leverkusen were held to a 2-2 draw at Freiburg, but were presented with the Bundesliga shield in front of their home fans at full-time. Dripping wet after being showered with beer by teammates, Kane said the title win was “an incredible feeling,” and hoped it would be “the first of many.” “It’s been lot of hard work, a lot of
INTER AWAIT: Superb saves by PSG ’keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma inspired the victory, as Arsenal were punished for misses, including one by Bukayo Saka Arsenal on Wednesday fell short on the big stage again as their painful UEFA Champions League semi-final exit against Paris Saint-Germain left Mikel Arteta to rue his club’s failure to provide him with enough attacking options. Arteta’s side were unable to reach the Champions League final for the first time in 19 years as PSG clinched a tense 2-1 win at Parc des Princes. Trailing 1-0 from last week’s first leg in London, the Gunners made a blistering start to the second leg, but could not convert their chances as Gianluigi Donnarumma’s superb saves inspired PSG’s 3-1 aggregate victory. Arsenal were punished for
Taiwanese e-sports veteran Lin “ET” Chia-hung yesterday successfully defended his King of Fighters XV title at this year’s Evolution Championship Series: Japan (EVO Japan), securing his second consecutive championship. Lin claimed victory with a 3-1 win over Japanese pro gamer “mok” in the grand final, repeating his earlier 3-1 win against the same opponent in the winners’ final. The 40-year-old earned a ￥1 million (US$6,897) cash prize at the two-day tournament, which drew 294 competitors. Mok, Lin’s toughest rival in the bracket, took home ￥400,000 as runner-up. Lin remains undefeated in match sets against mok in King of Fighters XV, holding a 10-0 record,
RSS