Israel's Saied Abu Farchi was sent off after performing a controversial celebration against Austria in the Nations League. The 20-year-old appeared to use the corner flag to mimic firing a gun after scoring and was shown a second yellow card.
Match details and the sending off
Austria played host to Israel in their Nations League Group G opener on Thursday evening and took the lead just before half-time through a Romano Schmid penalty. In the 55th minute, Abu Farchi, who had been booked for a foul four minutes earlier, headed home an equaliser.
The Colorado Rapids forward then ran to the corner flag to celebrate his strike and picked it up. He dropped to one knee, pointed it towards the pitch and appeared to some to mimic the firing of a firearm. Other reports claim that he was simply emulating a shot with a snooker or pool cue, as the player had previously hinted at this on social media.
Referee's decision and manager's response
Under FIFA Law 12, players can be cautioned for "gesturing or acting in a provocative, derisory or inflammatory way." Yellow cards have also been handed out in the past for removing the corner flag. Abu Farchi was therefore given his marching orders by Bulgarian referee Georgi Kabakov, reducing the team to 10 men. Israel conceded goals in the 90th and 93rd minutes, losing 3-1 in Linz.
Israel manager Ran Ben-Shimon touched on the celebration and sending off post-match, explaining that Abu Farchi regularly does the celebration. He said: "I've seen it before and everyone can check. 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.
"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."
Context of the fixture
The match against Austria – and two subsequent fixtures against Republic of Ireland – are being played against the backdrop of Israel's military offensive in Gaza. Indeed, Israel's next match, for which Abu Farchi will be suspended, will be a highly controversial clash with Ireland.
After the Nations League draw placed the two nations in the same group, over 160 Irish athletes organised under campaigns such as Irish Sport for Palestine and Stop the Game. Open letters were signed demanding that the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) refuse to take the field. The FAI voted to fulfil the fixtures to escape sanctions, but officially petitioned UEFA to suspend Israel from European football competitions. UEFA deferred taking action.
Each of Israel's two matches against Ireland will take place at neutral venues. The first game on September 27 will be held in Debrecen, Hungary, whilst Ireland's 'home' leg the following week will be held in Topola, Serbia. Both games will be played without fans and Irish national broadcaster RTE has scaled back its coverage. It will air both games without any studio analysis, pundits or local commentary.
