Israel forward Saied Abu Farchi was controversially sent off following his goal celebration against Austria. Abu Farchi, who plays for MLS club Colorado Rapids, equalised for his country in the 55th minute of Thursday's Nations League clash in Linz.
Celebration deemed provocative
The 20-year-old ran over to the corner flag before taking it out of the ground and aiming the pole towards the pitch while on one knee. With a smile, Abu Farchi then appeared to motion a gun shot.
Under Rule 12 of the FIFA Laws of the Game, a player can be cautioned for an excessive or provocative celebration that incites the crowd or mocks opponents. Bulgarian referee Georgi Kabakov deemed Abu Farchi's celebration as such and brandished a second yellow card for Abu Farchi, who'd been booked just three minutes earlier.
Israel down to 10 men
That left Israel with 10 men for the remainder of the match. They clung on until the 90th minute, only for Phillipp Mwene to put Austria in front before Sasa Kalajdzic made it 3-1 in stoppage time.
However, some have suggested Abu Farchi was actually motioning a pool or snooker shot and have pointed to him using a similar goal celebration at club level without punishment.
Manager defends player
Post-match, Israel manager Ran Ben-Shimon explained that Abu Farchi regularly does the celebration for Colorado and hasn't been booked before. "I've seen it before and everyone can check," Ben-Shimon said.
"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."
Mirror Football has approached UEFA for comment.
Context of the match
The game in Austria was played amid Israel's war in Gaza. Ben-Shimon's side will face the Republic of Ireland in their next match at a neutral venue in Debrecen, Hungary with no away fans permitted and with reduced television coverage.
Sunday's fixture - and the two teams' meeting in Serbia next week - is already steeped in controversy, with the Israeli FA recently accusing Ireland boss Heimir Hallgrimsson of 'hypocrisy and stupidity' for saying that his team would be 'playing against genocide'.
The Israeli government continues to deny accusations of a genocide. Since the attacks on Israel by Hamas on October 7, 2023, more than 70,000 Palestinians have since been killed in the war in Gaza, as per the United Nations.
