Turkish soccer team suspends Israeli player for dedicating goal to hostages in Gaza
Antalyaspor vows to terminate Sagiv Jehezkel’s contract hours after he flashed ‘100 days,’ drawing fierce criticism from media, fans for ‘acting against country’s sensitivities’
Israeli soccer player Sagiv Jehezkel was suspended from Turkish Süper Lig club Antalyaspor on Sunday, after he celebrated a goal by expressing support for hostages held by the Hamas terror group in the Gaza Strip for 100 days.
After scoring the equalizer in Sunday’s 1-1 draw against Trabzonspor in the top Turkish league, the Israeli player made a heart sign with his hands to the camera, and showed the words “100 days. October 7” along with a Star of David symbol on his wristband.
Within an hour of the game, Antalyaspor announced in a post on X, formerly Twitter, that it was suspending Jehezkel “until further notice,” after fierce criticism from local fans and media in Turkey.
In a separate post on X an hour later, Sinan Boztepe, the president of the Turkish club, said that Jehezkel had “acted against the sensitivities of Antalya, Antalyaspor and our country.”
It was not immediately clear whether Jehezkel was suspended or fired from the soccer club, though Boztepe vowed to terminate his contract.
Jehezkel was one of hundreds of thousands of Israelis and supporters around the world who called Sunday for the release of hostages who were taken captive in Hamas’s October 7 massacres on southern Israeli communities, which left some 1,200 dead and another 240 taken captive — mostly civilians.
Türkiye Süper Ligi'nde oynanan bir maçta İsrail ile dayanışma mesajı verildi.
Antalyaspor'un İsrailli futbolcusu Sagiv Jehezkel attığı golün ardından bileğinde yazan mesajı gösterdi.
Mesajda "7 Ekim saldırısının 100'üncü günü" ifadesi ve bir Siyon yıldızı yer alıyor. pic.twitter.com/1KJMtkWDjr
— Halid Abdurrahman (@halidabdurrhman) January 14, 2024
Immediately after the game, Antalyaspor posted a photo of Jehezkel on social media to celebrate the goal, but removed it minutes later, according to Turkish and Israeli media reports, after fierce criticism from local fans and media in Turkey.
According to a Channel 12 report on Sunday, if Antalyaspor indeed decides to terminate the contract with the Israeli player — who signed with the club in September 2023 on a three-season long contract until June 2026 — it would need to pay him over $1 million.
This is not the first time the Gaza war has been an issue for Israeli players in the Turkish soccer league. Weeks after the outbreak of the war, Jehezkel and his Arab Israeli teammate Ramzi Safouri decided to sit out a game after the league decided to hold a moment of silence in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza — without any mention of Hamas’s brutal onslaught on Israel.
