October 18 – Dutch winger Anwar El Ghazi (pictured) is the latest top-flight player to be sanctioned for comments on social media in the wake of the Israel-Hamas conflict.
El Ghazi has been suspended by Bundesliga club Mainz 05 for a post which has since been deleted.
“Mainz 05 respects that there are different perspectives on the complex Middle East conflict that has been going on for decades,” the club said in a statement posted on X, formerly Twitter.
“However, the club clearly distances itself from the content of the post as it does not reflect the values of our club.”
The club did not provide further details about what El Ghazi had written in the deleted post.
The former Aston Villa player commented: “I want to make clear that I’m standing for peace above everything. He also called for “more empathy, deepening our knowledge about the history of this conflict.”
Meanwhile, Bayern Munich are reportedly scheduled to meet full-back Noussair Mazraoui after the Morocco international shared a pro-Palestinian video on Instagram.
In a statement, the club told the DPA German news agency: “Bayern immediately contacted Noussair Mazraoui after his Instagram posts on Sunday. After his return [from national team duty], a detailed personal meeting with the club’s management in Munich is planned.”
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