Warning for Chelsea’s new signing after Israeli handshake furore
Chelsea’s new £15million signing Mohamed Salah has been told to “promote the best values of sport”, having refused to shake the hands of Maccabi Tel Aviv players while playing for his previous club in Switzerland.
The 21-year-old Egyptian midfielder refused to take part in the customary pre-match handshake when Basle faced Maccabi Tel Aviv in two Champions League qualifiers last July. And hoping there will be no repeat from the player, Paul Charney, chairman of the Zionist Federation, has called on the Football Association to warn the player against carrying out similar actions. He said: “There should be no place for the ugliness of bigotry in ‘the beautiful game,’ and that includes prejudice against Israeli players. We hope that Mohamed Salah will be able to use his new position in one of the biggest teams in the world to promote the best values of sport.
“However, we hope that the FA will make it clear to him that repetitions of his previous behaviour will be treated with the same seriousness as any other examples of racism.”
Salah made headlines last July when he refused to shake hands with the Maccabi players before both matches of their two-legged tie, staying on the touchline during the first game in Switzerland to tie up his boots, before ‘fist-bumping’ the Israeli players instead of shaking their hands in the return leg.
Prior to the game in Tel Aviv, he also reportedly at first refused to travel to Israel saying: “In my thoughts I am going to play in Palestine and not Israel, and I am also going to score and win there. The Zionist flag won’t be shown in the Champions League.” He has since insisted the comments were fictitious and that his actions were a result of external pressures.
Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho believes Salah will grow as a player as a result of signing for his team, saying: “It’s not a concern, because we know the club Chelsea is, I know the manager I am.
“I know that Chelsea’s capable of helping people and making people feel the way we think people should feel, which in football and in life is to be open and respectful to every ethnicity, to every religion. People have the right to be what they are. Chelsea as a club and me as a manager, we will be more than ready to help him.”
Referring to the incident in July, he said: “We analysed the situation, we spoke with the player and his people. The situation put in front of him, aged 20, was not easy to resolve. He tried to find balance, which for us is not enough obviously.
“You know which owner we have, and the variety of players we have too. So this club is a fantastic club to help and to support a young 21-year-old to grow up.”
On completing his signing for the club, which is owned by Jewish billionaire Roman Abramovich, Salah said: “I’m very happy to sign for such a big club. I hope I can make the Chelsea supporters happy.”
Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.
For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.
Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.
You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.
100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...
Engaging
Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.
Celebrating
There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.
Pioneering
In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.
Campaigning
Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.
Easy access
In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.
Voice of our community to wider society
The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.
We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.
