I'm not anti semitic or racist insists Nicolas Anelka as he calls on the FA to drop charge

 
Marco Giacomelli22 January 2014

Nicolas Anelka today launched an appeal against the Football Association charge over his ‘quenelle’ salute saying he is neither anti-Semitic nor racist.

The West Brom striker was yesterday charged with making an improper gesture, and that it was an aggravated breach in that it included “a reference to ethnic origin and/or race and/or religion or belief”.

Anelka has long maintained the gesture he made after scoring in West Brom’s 3-3 draw at West Ham was not anti-Semitic, as condemned by many, but instead anti-establishment.

A statement on Anelka’s Facebook page confirmed he would fight the charge. He wrote: “I ask the English FA to kindly lift the charges alleged against me. And I repeat, I am not anti-Semitic or racist.”

Yesterday Anelka used his Twitter account to link to an online video from a French Jewish leader who said the player should not be punished. Roger Cukierman, president of the Representative Council of French Jewish Institutions, said it was a, “gesture of rebellion”.

If found guilty, Anelka will be banned for at least five games but in the video Cukierman said: “It seems a bit severe to me because it seems to me that this gesture only has an anti‑Semitic connotation if the gesture is made in front of a synagogue or a memorial to the Holocaust. When it’s made in a place which is not specifically Jewish it seems to me that it’s a slightly anarchic gesture of revolt against the establishment, which doesn’t deserve severe sanctions.”

Anelka said today Cukierman is the “best expert” to the gesture’s meaning.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in