Nicolas Anelka Banned, Fined in Puzzling Decision from the FA

Nicolas Anelka’s week just got pretty bad.

Handed a whopping 5 match ban from the FA, fined 80,000 pounds, and suspended by West Bromwich Albion, he certainly is starting to regret his goal celebration that used the quenelle.

An inverted Nazi salute, the Baggies striker claimed that it was “not anti-Semitic or racist.”

Where the FA’s decision starts to become puzzling is that the independent commission stated that “We 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.”

So then what was the problem?

His gesture in France, where it originated, has come to mean both anti-Jewish and anti-establishment. Apparently the FA decided that even though he claimed not to be anti-Semitic and the commission found him not anti-Semitic, the fact that the gesture can be viewed as such makes him worthy of punishment.

The so called “expert” that the FA brought in was straight up contradicted by the president of the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions in France, Mr. Roger Cukierman, who explained “very clearly that my [Anelka’s] quenelle could not be regarded as anti-Semitic!”

What better expert is there than this man, who was French, living in France, with knowledge of the quenelle and its connotations?

Many writers believe that Anelka got off easy and should have been punished more, but I ask you, if it wasn’t anti-Semetic, what is he being punished for?

Because of his so called racially discriminatory gesture, Zoopla, the kit sponsor, announced they would not be renewing their contract after it expires, 2 other major sponsors say they are considering doing the same thing, and he has been banned for 5 games, fined, and suspended by his club.

If his gesture was not anti-Semitic, what is he being punished for?

This is another example of hyper-political-correctness syndrome in our modern world, and it’s now spreading to football. Lovely.

What do you think? 

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