Nicolas Anelka banned and fined £80,000 for 'quenelle' gesture West Bromwich Albion

[Goldberg]

Politics aside, racist or not racist... All the FA are doing is helping destroy the Premiership further.
It is no longer the best league in the land and it is no longer attracting the best players.
What they are doing is making it a very unattractive league to come and play, making up rules as they go along.

In all of these 'racist' scenarios they seem to drag their heels in the mud giving the Daily mail more time to construct a witch hunt.

It is all a mess... Here is a scenario I predict in the future.. We know more Sport Professionals are coming out as being Gay of late, how long before a Premiership Footballer gets a 6 match ban for calling another player 'Not gay'.. This is how fickle it is all becoming..
Was it Robbie Keane that used to roll and then shoot into the crowd? Fuck me! How was he never kicked out of the game for such a gesture...

At the end of the day the FA need to make a stand... Kick the offenders out for good.. If your trying to kick it (racism) out of the game, make an example. They wouldn't last 5 minutes in a court afterwards.

[beaconboy]

Its a typical over-reaction as is the norm in this Facebook world ! One person is offended by something and the the mighty anger wheels start turning and the people who have no idea what the story is about start jumping on the bandwaggon and before you know it .... its a huge news story... I hate what has happened to this country since the introduction of Facebook.
As for Anelka ? i believe he honestly was using the gesture as an anti establishment protest against the French government in support of his mate ...... But the football pitch is no place for anything to do with politics so he deserved punishment of some sort ... But to be branded a racist or anti semitic is a joke !!

[stevo25]

looks like a load of old bollocks, trumped up to placate some numpty who takes offence to ANYTHING, like said above cucumber!
"French authorities have said the gesture is too vague to take any action against Dieudonné"
but "However, an official January 2014 circular issued by the Interior Ministry specifically linked the quenelle gesture to antisemitism and extremism."
See one day its ok and the next it isn't. Its daft and the guy probably needed fisting anyway

[4me2]

It is a fucking farce !

You could say that Politics should be kept out of football and maybe give him a one match ban.

But you can't even do without looking looking like complete cunts when you plan on sending your national teams to the 2022 world cup.

Let the world send their teams to stadiums built on slave foreign labour and turn a blind eye to it.
No fucking way did Qatar earn the right to host the cup without mass corruption backed up by Blaetter (the biggest corrupt and racist cunt on the planet)

If it had been a Jewish player who made the gesture there would be fuck all to talk about.
If Anelka wanted to do something anti semetic then he'd have just clicked his heels together and done a full Heil Hitler salute.

They not have the right to be robbing him of 80K or court costs. They are not legal judges and haven't study Law.

[Geko]

Regardless of what you know about the matter, Anelka was found guilty so get over it. You can mock all you like but in the end the hand gesture was found to be racially offensive, I bet if Anelka played for Liverpool he would guilty as hell by most people . It was studied by experts who know more about it the matter than you or me. I don't get your point and I don't think you get mine either. I saw the hand gesture during the game and thought it was strange, does it matter if most people did not know at the time what it meant, he bloody well knew. No different to a Nazi salute, it was not right to do it. I can bet my house that he knew what it was intended to mean.

Hahahahahhhahahhahhahhahhahhahhahahhahahahhahahhahahahhahahhahahah.

What a load of rubbish.

Yep. I must be wrong. "The experts" said it was racist.

I don't really care what happens to Anelka. I don't need to "get over it". I was trying to educate. You probably don't see the irony in your words, considering you are still crying over Suarez and think the world has it in for Liverpool FC. Man Utd fans think the same, as do Chelsea fans. I don't care for any of the clubs in the EPL. Nor do I have anything against any of them. (Besides West Ham)

I like how you came in here, talked about a subject you quite obviously know very little about. Tried to make it about Suarez and Liverpool. Something you still seem to be crying about. Then instead of countering my points, simply told me to get over it. You sir, are a scholar and a genius.

[bub]

You sir, are a scholar and a genius.

[4me2]

Is that a polite way of saying he is thick as pigs shit ?

[bub]

Is that a polite way of saying he is thick as pigs shit ?

I hope not as that's a personal insult. Isnt the forum about opinions without getting personal?
Seems like West Brom also think Anelka is guilty as they have suspended him. So no support from his own club.

[flukesy]

As an Albion fan, I couldn't give a shit, the gesture doesn't bother me and as for "losing" Anelka for x amount of games, I don't see it as a great loss
He doesn't care for any club or players he's played for/with.

[Goldberg]

He doesn't care for any club or players he's played for/with.

Neither did Roy Keane.