10 Crazy Reasons Footballers Were SACKED By Their Club
3. Nicolas Anelka - Anti-Semitic Gesture
It was the 2013-14 season and Premier League veteran Nicolas Anelka had just bagged a goal for West Bromwich Albion against West Ham United when he decided to perform a gesture which would signal the beginning of the end of his time with the club.
After choosing to show off a 'quenelle' celebration after scoring, Anelka was banned for five games due to the gesture being 'strongly associated with anti-Semitism.'
For those who aren't aware, the 'quenelle' gesture has been described as an 'inverted Nazi salute' when performed.
Anelka later confessed that he only used the celebration as a show of support towards his friend Dieudonne M'bala M'bala, a French comedian who had been convicted multiple times on anti-Semitic charges.
The player then announced on social media that he would be leaving the club in order to preserve his integrity, before West Brom clarified that "the termination was invalid as it was not conducted under the correct legal process."
His post that day led to the club giving him the official boot not long after due to 'gross misconduct'.
Anelka would later appear for Mumbai City in India before calling it quits in 2015.