Because of a post on Instagram, professional footballer Anwar El Ghazi was kicked out of the FSV Mainz 05 squad. The club also demanded a lot of money back. A court has now ruled on the dispute.
The Mainz Labor Court has declared the termination without notice by Bundesliga football club FSV Mainz 05 of professional footballer Anwar El Ghazi because of his pro-Palestinian Instagram posts to be invalid. Presiding judge Bettina Chaudhry justified this by arguing that there was no breach of duty that would make termination of the employment relationship without notice necessary.
The decision concerned a social media post by El Ghazi on November 1, in which he said that he stood by his original post and would not take it back. According to the general public’s understanding, this was covered by freedom of expression, it was said.
This does not constitute a breach of the duty of loyalty that would require immediate termination. El Ghazi is entitled to around 1.7 million euros in outstanding salaries and bonus payments. He should also be employed again as a licensed player.
After a failed conciliation hearing in January before the Mainz Labor Court, the chamber hearing in June also failed to produce a result. A subsequent settlement proposal by presiding judge Bettina Chaudhry also failed to produce an agreement.
Club demands 523,000 euros back from Anwar El Ghazi
The starting point of the sensational case was an initial post by El Ghazi in mid-October. After the attack on Israel by terrorists on behalf of Hamas on October 7, El Ghazi wrote in an Instagram post that was then deleted: “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.” What he meant was that Palestine should extend from the Jordan to the Mediterranean. This in a sense denies Israel the right to exist.
El Ghazi’s contract with Mainz originally ran until June 30th of this year, but has been extended by a year due to the team’s relegation. This concerns bonus payments and monthly salaries, which, according to his lawyer Alexander Bergweiler, amount to 150,000 euros gross. He spoke of a total of 4.2 million euros.
Mainz, in turn, is demanding around 523,000 euros back from El Ghazi. The club sees the incidents as having caused major damage to its reputation. If the player waives his claims, he can move for free, lawyer Johan-Michel Menke recently explained.
Source: Stern
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