Antalyaspor fans at yesterday's match.
Ankara, Turkiye: Turkish authorities have detained football club Antalyaspor’s Israeli player Sagiv Jehezkel for questioning after he displayed solidarity with Israel during a top-flight league game.
Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc said late Sunday the Israeli international is under investigation over possible charges of "openly inciting the public to hatred and hostility.”
Tunc maintained in a statement posted on X that Jehezkel had engaged in "an ugly gesture in support of the Israeli massacre in Gaza.”
After scoring an equalizer against Trabzonspor during a home game, the 28-year-old Israeli player displayed a bandage around his wrist reading "100 days 7/10" alongside a star of David.
The gesture was deemed to be provocative in Turkiye where there is widespread public opposition to Israel’s military actions in Gaza and overwhelming support for the Palestinians.
Antalyaspor suspended Jehezkel from the team and announced that it was speaking to the club's lawyers about the possibility of terminating his contract.
The Turkish Football Federation condemned what it said was a gesture that "disturbed the conscience” of the Turkish public.
