Linz, Austria – Austria hosted Israel in the UEFA Nations League group stage on Thursday evening. Colorado Rapids U22 striker Sayed Abu Farchi scored the only goal for the visitors. Austria won the match 3-1.
Abu Farchi and Austria’s Kevin Danso were given yellow cards in the 52nd minute prior to a corner for the home side. Four minutes later, Abu Farchi scored on a header off a corner to tie the match 1-1. Decent finish with an xG of 0.06 according to FotMob.
In the celebration, the striker left his teammates to run towards the corner flag. He removed the corner flag from its mount and held it like a pool cue, with his left had supporting the pole between his thumb and index finger. He then raised the front of the pole. The referee, Georgi Kabakov, of Bulgaria, gave the striker a second yellow card. See the sequence below.
Interpretations of excessive celebration can vary. The laws of the game do not explicitly say it is a yellow card offense to remove the corner flag pole from its place while celebrating a goal. It is illegal to do so per Law 17, which addresses corner kicks. Different context. Like with making certain gestures and removing one’s shirt, it’s reasonable but inconsistent across the Football World. Even without interpreting what the player does with the corner flag.
Neymar’s done it before and not gotten this type of reaction. If an Austrian player had done this in this game, would it have been seen as antisemitic? If an Icelandic player does this in a friendly against Costa Rica, does anyone notice? Context is a factor.
As Ed Sheeran just found out recently, the internet has its opinions about the Israel and Palestine conflict. Accounts on social media have reacted to the video. It’s pretty clear that Abu Farchi is holding the flag pole like a pool cue. But then moving it upward seems like recoil as if one was firing a gun. That’s certainly not how one takes a stroke in billiards. Doing so while playing for Israel given the circumstances, one could interpret this as mimicking violence.
Seeing this from Colorado, it’s not clear if the yellow was for simply removing the corner flag or the interpretation that he was using it to mime firing a weapon. In any case, the internet has reacted.
Abu Farchi has done this celebration before, as shown in a February 3 Instagram post. The celebration was from a league match with Maccabi Tel Aviv. The player is of Arab descent.
Israel play Ireland on September 27 and Kosovo October 1 in Nations League B, Group 3. Abu Farchi will be suspended for the match on Sunday, which is taking place in Debrecen, Hungary. Abu Farchi has played three matches for Colorado since joining the club and has yet to record a goal contribution.
The conflict remains a sensitive issue in American sports and MLS. New England Revolution’s For Turgeman was subjected to antisemitic chants during a match at CF Montreal in August.
It is still not clear to Burgundy Wave how to spell the player’s last name. MLS and club platforms have it as Farkhi. The player on the back of his national team jersey and social media spells it Farchi.
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Eamon Shaw 