Former AZ player Zakaria Aboukhlal has been suspended by his employer Toulouse FC. According to it French medium RMC Sports the 23-year-old attacker has been guilty of misogynistic statements towards the deputy mayor of the southern French city.
Aboukhlal is said to have misbehaved during the festivities after Toulouse’s cup win. Grabbed at the end of April Toulouse de Coupe de France by winning 5-1 against Nantes. When acting mayor Laurence Arribagé asked the players to be quiet during a speech on the steps of the town hall, Aboukhlal is said to have said: “Where I come from, women don’t talk to men like that.”
The club announces an internal investigation into the Moroccan Dutchman and does not want to comment further until that investigation has been completed. Until this investigation is completed, Aboukhlal will not train with the current number 13 of the French Ligue 1.
Disputed before
It is not the first time that Aboukhlal has been discredited. Last weekend he was already missing from the selection of Toulouse because he did not want to participate in a national campaign against homophobia. All clubs in the top French divisions would play with back numbers in the colors of the rainbow. Players who did not want to cooperate, did not play for their team.
Aboukhlal was under contract with AZ between 2019 and 2022. He played 90 official matches for the Alkmaarders and scored 12 times. Last summer, Toulouse paid AZ two million euros for the services of Aboukhlal.