Commission explains Anelka ban

Nicolas Anelka’s ’quenelle’ gesture did contain “a reference to anti-Semitism” but was viewed as less serious than Luis Suarez’s racist abuse, according to the independent regulatory commission that imposed a five-match ban on the French striker.

The commission’s written reasons state the three-man panel was not satisfied that Anelka intended to “express or promote anti-Semitism by his use of the quenelle” when he made the salute as a goal celebration against West Ham on December 28.