The fuss surrounding football professional Anwar El Ghazi at Bundesliga club FSV Mainz 05 has flared up again and the case has escalated.
“Mainz 05 notes with surprise and incomprehension Anwar El Ghazi’s statements regarding the club on its social media channels,” the club said on Wednesday and announced that it would examine the matter legally and then evaluate it.
“The player took sick leave on Monday and is currently not training,” the Rheinhessen continued in their statement.
Social media post on Instagram: Anwar El-Ghazi speaks out
New post from El Ghazi
This was preceded by another post from the 28-year-old in which he indirectly accused his club of lying. On Monday, the FSV announced that El Ghazi had shown remorse after his first anti-Israel post and would be reintegrated after a warning.
But now El Ghazi said he “doesn’t regret his position and has no remorse. I don’t distance myself from what I said.” Rather, he will “stand up for humanity and the oppressed until my last breath.” His “position remains what it has always been,” emphasized the Dutchman with Moroccan roots.
He is “against war and violence”, against “the killing of all innocent civilians, every form of discrimination, Islamophobia, anti-Semitism, genocide, apartheid, occupation and oppression”. Therefore, he “could not remain silent in good conscience.” El Ghazi concluded his contribution with the words: “We must now demand an end to the killing in Gaza!”
Exemption after first posting
After his first statement about the war in Gaza, El Ghazi was released from training and games. Several conversations followed with the FSV board in which, according to the club, he distanced himself from his Instagram post.
