The fuss surrounding professional soccer player Anwar El Ghazi from 1. FSV Mainz 05 doesn’t stop. After the striker’s controversial Instagram posts about the Gaza war, the Bundesliga club wants to comment again in the next few days.
Sports director Martin Schmidt from 1. FSV Mainz 05 has in the debate about pro-Palestinian statements by his professional Anwar El Ghazi Another statement from the Bundesliga club was announced. “This is now being discussed at board level. We will make a statement in the next day or two. We are putting our heads together and will come up with a solution as quickly as possible,” announced Schmidt after Mainz’s 3-0 defeat in the DFB. Cup at Hertha BSC.
Just two days after El Ghazi’s pardon, problems arose again in the hours before the Hertha game. The starting point was an Instagram post, in which El Ghazi made it clear that the club statement published on Monday was not authorized by him. He doesn’t regret his stand at all. “I do not distance myself from what I said and stand for humanity and alongside the oppressed until the last day I breathe,” El Ghazi wrote.
Martin Schmidt: “Not very happy”
Schmidt thought the timing of the post was inappropriate. “If it’s every morning on match day, that’s not very happy,” said the 56-year-old.
The club had previously said on Monday that El Ghazi had backed away from his controversial pro-Palestinian post from October 15 in several conversations. “In this context, El Ghazi clearly distanced himself from terrorist acts such as those perpetrated by Hamas (…),” wrote the Mainz-based company. “He emphasized his compassion for the victims of this attack as well as for all victims of this conflict. He made it clear that he does not question Israel’s right to exist.”
