West Brom 'sack' Nicolas Anelka for misconduct
Nicolas Anelka doing the ‘quenelle’ goal celebration
English Premier League club, West Bromwich Albion have confirmed that they have sacked French striker Nicolas Anelka for ‘gross misconduct’.
The 35-year-old striker, who is currently banned for five matches for his ‘quenelle’ goal celebration, had announced on micro-blogging site Twitter, that he was terminating his contract with immediate effect, following his refusal to accept the terms & conditions which were put forward by West Bromwich Albion, for the return of the striker to the squad.
Anelka wrote on Twitter:
Suite aux entretiens entre le club et moi, des propositions m’ont été faîtes pour que je réintègre le groupe sous certaines conditions
— nicolas anelka (@anelkaofficiel) March 14, 2014
que je ne peux pas accepter. Souhaitant garder mon intégrité, j’ai donc pris la décision de me libérer et de mettre fin au contrat
— nicolas anelka (@anelkaofficiel) March 14, 2014
me liant avec West Bromwich Albion jusqu’en 2014, et ce dès à présent.
— nicolas anelka (@anelkaofficiel) March 14, 2014
Which roughly translates to:
“Following discussions between the club and me, proposals have been made ??to me that I rejoined the group under certain conditions
I can not accept. Wishing to keep my integrity, so I decided to free myself and to terminate the contract
linking me with West Bromwich Albion until 2014, and now.”
The conditions were later revealed by the club:
“These conditions were, firstly, that the Club required Nicolas Anelka to apologise to it, its supporters, sponsors and the wider community for the impact and consequences of his gesture made on December 28 and secondly, that he accept a substantial fine.”
The statement released by the club confirming the contract termination of Anelka, read:
“Nicolas Anelka’s purported termination of his Premier League contract this evening via Social Media was invalid as this was not conducted under the correct legal process as required by his contract.
“The club considers the conduct of Nicolas Anelka on December 28, coupled with his purported termination on Social Media this evening, to be gross misconduct.
“As a result the club has tonight written to Nicolas Anelka giving him 14 days’ notice of termination as required under his contract.”
Anelka was found guilty by the Football Association charge of aggravated misconduct, for his controversial ‘quenelle’ celebration, which he had performed on December 28, while celebrating a goal against West Ham United. The gesture has been popularised by Dieudonne Mbala Mbala a comedian and a friend of Anelka, but some politicians have associated it with anti-semitism and consider the gesture a reverse Nazi salute.
Anelka had however denied any racial or religious motivation behind his controversial celebration, insisting that his actions were meant to be anti-establishment. He was found guilty and subsequently banned for five matches (the minimum ban for such offence), by an independent association last month. However, they had confirmed that they did not believe that Anelka was anti-semitic.
West Bromwich Albion had conducted their own investigation, and had already fined him £80,000 along with ordering the Frenchman to compulsorily complete an education course.
However, the case reached breaking point when West Brom offered Terms to Anelka for his return, which were not acceptable to him.