‘Israeli’ player sent off after gun-firing goal celebration
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‘Israeli’ forward Saied Abu Farchi was sent off for a controversial goal celebration during ‘Israel’s’ 3-1 UEFA Nations League defeat to Austria on Thursday.
The 20-year-old Colorado Rapids striker headed home in the 55th minute at the Raiffeisen Arena in Linz to equalise after Romano Schmid had given the hosts a first-half lead from the penalty spot.
Already booked four minutes earlier, Abu Farchi ran to the corner, pulled out the flag, dropped to one knee and made a gesture with the pole simulating firing a rifle.
İsrailli futbolcu Saied Abu Farchi, dün Avusturya'ya golünü attıktan sonra ikinci sarı karttan kırmızı kartla oyundan atılıyor.
— Mervan Nazım (@NazimMervan) September 25, 2026
Bulgar hakem Georgi Nikolov Kabakov'u tebrik etmemiz lazım. Bunlar iyice zıvanadan çıktı çünkü. UEFA ve FIFA'nın da bu konuda bu gibi hareketlere ve… pic.twitter.com/YvPvq9KkUm
Bulgarian referee Georgi Kabakov showed him a second yellow card for the celebration, resulting in a red card and leaving ‘Israel’ with 10 players.
Under the Laws of the Game, players can be cautioned for excessive, provocative or inflammatory celebrations, and removing a corner flag is also not permitted.
Austria capitalised late on, with Phillipp Mwene restoring the lead in the 90th minute from Paul Wanner’s cross and Sasa Kalajdzic adding a third in stoppage time.
Some reports and social media posts suggested the gesture mimicked a snooker or pool cue shot rather than a gun.
Abu Farchi has previously described a similar celebration as “all a celebration of snooker” on social media and has performed it at club level without being booked.
‘Israel’ coach Ran Ben-Shimon defended his player after the match. “I’ve seen it before and everyone can check. When this young player scores, in the Israeli national team or the MLS or anywhere he plays, he celebrates in the same situation again and again and he never gets a yellow card about it,” he said.
“He didn’t know about it, this is his way to celebrate every goal he scores. He’s a young player, I’m sure this lesson will stay with him a long time, he made a mistake.”
In other comments he added that it may have been his own fault for not advising the player to stop and that Abu Farchi must learn from the incident.
The dismissal means Abu Farchi will miss ‘Israel’s’ next Nations League fixture against the Republic of Ireland.
