Ligue 1 team Nice suspended Algerian international Youcef Atal on Wednesday after he shared a social media post linked to the war between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas.
Atal reportedly shared a video from Palestinian preacher Mahmoud al-Hasanat, who asked God to “send Jewish people a dark day.”
The post was quickly deleted, and the 27-year-old apologized, saying he would “never support a message of hate”.
Nice said in a statement, though, that, given the seriousness of the post, the club would “take immediate disciplinary action against the player, prior to any action that may be taken by sporting and legal authorities.”
At the start of the week, French prosecutors had launched a preliminary investigation into the Algerian on suspicion of “glorifying terrorism.”
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This news comes just a day after Bundesliga club Mainz suspended Dutchman Anwar El Ghazi for a pro-Palestinian social media post that allegedly including the statement: “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.”
The statement has been used to assert territorial claims over the borders of the Palestinian territories. Germany’s public prosecutor’s office recently told the German Press Agency that they now classify the sentence a criminal offense because they believe it to be potentially seditious regarding Israel’s right to exist.