NICOLAS ANELKA HAS denied an FA charge regarding his controversial ‘quenelle’ celebration.
In a short statement issued this evening, West Brom confirmed that the striker has requested a personal hearing and said the club will make no further comment while the disciplinary process was ongoing.
Anelka faces a minimum five-match ban if found guilty.
The Frenchman has repeatedly denied that his celebration in the 3-3 draw against West Ham last month was anti-Semitic.
Instead he insists that it was a show of support for his friend, the controversial comedian Dieudonné M’bala M’bala who popularised the gesture.
Yesterday Roger Cukierman, president of the Representative Council of the Jewish Institutions of France, said that Anelka’s actions were not anti-Semitic.
The striker has continued to play for West Brom while the FA investigation is ongoing, prompting shirt sponsor Zoopla to announce that they will not renew their sponsorship at the end of the season.
