Anelka reaffirms ´quenelle´ defence

West Brom striker Nicolas Anelka has again sought to clarify his controversial ‘quenelle’ goal celebration.

Anelka is facing a minimum five-match ban after being charged by the Football Association on Tuesday for making a salute that has been linked to anti-Semitic connotations in his native France.

Having previously defended the gesture by saying it was merely a dedication to his friend and comedian Dieudonne M’Bala M’Bala, Anelka took to Twitter in order to again play down the significance of his actions.

The 34-year-old posted a link to a video, in which prominent Jewish leader Roger Cukierman, president of the Representative Council of the Jewish Institutions of France and vice-president of the World Jewish Congress, argues that Anelka’s use of the ‘quenelle’ is not worthy of a hefty punishment.

“It (the FA action) looks a bit severe to me,” said Cukierman in the video.

“It (the ‘quenelle’ gesture) would be reprehensible only in the case where the gesture was made in front of a synagogue or a Holocaust memorial.

“When it is made in a place that has no Jewish specificity, it seems to me that it is a gesture of rebellion, a little anarchist, against the establishment.

“And that, it seems to me, doesn’t deserve a severe sanction.”

Anelka posted the video on Twitter with the message: “Nothing to add.”

He has until 1800 GMT on Thursday to respond to the FA’s charge against him.