Israel player sent off over goal celebration during Nations League game
An Israel player was sent off in controversial circumstances during last night's Nations League game against Austria.
Unlike Russia, the Israel national team has been permitted to continue playing in footballing tournaments despite the ongoing conflict with Palestine, which has already been met with criticism.
Although the Israeli national team failed to make the World Cup earlier this year, with the international break now underway, a focus is on them again as they took part in their first Nations League fixture last night.
While they lost out 3-1 to Austria, perhaps the biggest moment of the match came when Saied Abu Farchi equalised in the 55th minute, only to receive a second yellow card for his celebration.
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Now you might assume that the 20-year-old had taken his shirt off since that is the usual celebration that we see punished, even if Ian Wright and Gillette are trying to do something about that.
But he was given his marching orders after picking up the corner flag and putting it over his shoulder, which the referee clearly decided was a bookable offence, with Uefa rules say a player must be cautioned for 'gesturing or acting in a provocative, derisory or inflammatory way', while removing the corner flag is also a bookable offence.
However, his manager Ran Ben-Shimon suggested that the Colorado Rapids midfielder has regularly repeated the celebration in the MLS and hasn't been punished.
"I've seen it before and everyone can check," said Ben-Shimon.
"When this young player scores, in the Israeli national team or the MLS or anywhere he plays, he celebrates in the same situation again and again and he never gets a yellow card about it.
"He didn't know about it, this is his way to celebrate every goal he scores. He's a young player, I'm sure this lesson will stay with him a long time, he made a mistake."
Given the connotations of holding a corner flag in this way when your country is involved in a serious conflict, it's easy to see why many would have taken offence at his celebration, while others suggest that he was mimicking a snooker player.
The sending off proved a turning point as well, as Israel lost out after two late goals from Austria in their Nations League opener.
It won't be the last time that the Israeli national team are in the news either, as there is a campaign for the Republic of Ireland to boycott their two upcoming matches, which are set to go ahead at neutral venues.
Meanwhile, Amnesty International has made its thoughts clear on Israel's participation in the Nations League.
In a strongly-worded statement, it wrote: “It’s unconscionable that the Israel men’s football team will participate in the UEFA Nations League this autumn despite clear evidence that Israel’s football association continues to support illegal settlements.
“Instead of sending a clear message that there is a cost for Israel’s unlawful occupation of the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) and its atrocity crimes against Palestinians, UEFA is giving Israel an international stage as it maintains its brutal occupation of the OPT, its system of apartheid over all Palestinians, and its ongoing genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
“UEFA and FIFA should have suspended the Israel Football Association (IFA) long ago, for its refusal to exclude clubs based in illegal settlements in the OPT. Their continued participation in the Israeli leagues is in brazen violation of FIFA’s statutes and is contrary to international law. As the money keeps flowing from FIFA and UEFA to the IFA, they risk contributing to the sustainability of illegal settlements and of Israel’s unlawful occupation of the OPT, and therefore Israel’s violations of Palestinians’ human rights.
“Decisions and opinions by international courts, and resolutions by the United Nations General Assembly and the United Nations Security Council, over the last decades, have repeatedly condemned Israel for its multiple and egregious violations.
“Sport should never be used as a public relations spectacle for states committing atrocities."
Topics: Football
James Moorhouse