The Dutch footballer was previously suspended by the club due to a since-deleted post on social media.
German football club Mainz 05 has terminated Anwar El Ghazi’s contract over social media posts related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
In a statement on Friday, Mainz said El Ghazi’s deal had been terminated due to “comments and messages from the player on social media” without providing further information.
El Ghazi, 28, was previously suspended by the club over a now-deleted post about the conflict in the Middle East, but was allowed to return to training earlier this week.
“Stand up for what is right, even if it means standing alone,” El Ghazi said in a social media post after his resignation.
“The loss of my livelihood is nothing compared to the hell unleashed on the innocent and vulnerable in Gaza,” he said.
– Anwar El Ghazi (@elghazi1995) November 3, 2023
In a social media post on October 27, he had clarified that “as much as my previous statements on social media have been misunderstood, I would like to make it clear that I stand for peace and humanity for all.”
Mainz said on Monday they had lifted the suspension and were giving him a second chance. He said he spoke out against all types of terrorism, including Hamas, and that he did not question Israel’s right to exist.
However, in a subsequent social media post on Wednesday, El Ghazi indicated that the club had issued his statement without his consent.
“I don’t regret my position nor do I regret it,” the player wrote. “I do not distance myself from what I have said and I stand, today and always until my last breath, for humanity and the oppressed.”
He posted another statement condemning “the murder of all innocent civilians in Palestine and Israel.”
“There can never be any justification for the murder of more than 3,500 children in Gaza in the last three weeks…I and we as a world cannot conscientiously remain silent. We must now call for an end to the killing in Gaza,” the post added.
Ahead of El Ghazi’s dismissal on Friday, German prosecutors accused him of “disturbing public peace by condoning criminal acts in combination with incitement to hatred” through his social media posts.