AFPYoucef Atal arrives at the court in Nice
NOS Voetbal•vandaag, 08:20
OGC Nice footballer Youcef Atal (27) has been sentenced to eight months’ suspended prison sentence in France for incitement to hatred. The Algerian defender posted a video on his Instagram account in October about the conflict between Israel and Gaza that the court found contained anti-Semitism.
The court ruled that Atal must also pay a fine of 45,000 euros. His football club Nice previously suspended the Algerian international indefinitely and the French football league suspended him for seven matches.
Atal deleted the video shortly after posting and apologized. Atal said on his social media at the time that he would “never support a message of hate.” Nevertheless, the public prosecutor opened an investigation into the footballer on suspicion of “glorifying terrorism”.
AFPYoucef Atal in action for OGC Nice
In court, Atal apologized again at the sentencing and said he had not fully watched the posted 35-second video. An argument that could not convince the judge. Atal does not have to go to prison, that would only be the case if he makes the same mistake again.
Atal has not played for OGC Nice since the post, but for Algeria the defender has made three appearances. Atal has also been selected for the Africa Cup, which Algeria will start on January 13 with the group match against Ivory Coast.
The Ghazi in Mazraoui
In addition to Atal, Anwar El Ghazi (FSV Mainz 05) and Noussair Mazraoui (Bayern Munich) also got into trouble after posting messages on Instagram about the war between Israel and Hamas.
Mazraoui was kept in Bayern’s squad after giving an explanation, but German club Mainz fired El Ghazi after continued disagreement. A lawsuit was filed between the player and the club on December 20. The verdict is yet to come.
The German Public Prosecution Service reported a month ago that it is investigating El Ghazi due to a “serious suspicion of disturbing public order by approving crimes in combination with incitement to hatred and spreading it.”
2024-01-04 07:20:48
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