NICOLAS ANELKA’S association with Dutch club Roda JC has prompted anger among the Jewish community after his “quenelle” storm.
The ex-Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea striker has joined the struggling Eredivisie outfit as a consultant alongside Swiss-Russian millionaire banker Alexei Korotaev, the new owner.
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But Jews in the town of Kerkrade, on the Holland-German border, remember the France international making a “quenelle” gesture when he was playing for West Brom in December 2013.
He was banned for five matches, fined £80,000 and sacked eventually by the Baggies despite the FA disciplinary committee ruling he was not promoting anti-Semitism.
But Anelka had a long-time association with controversial hate-speech activist, conmedian and originator of the quenelle Dieudonne M’bala M’bala.
Jewish leader Ron van der Wieken said: “This is a disgraceful matter.
“We cannot believe Roda JC are dealing with him. We would like to tell Mister Anelka how shocking his quenelle gesture was towards Jewish people.”
Anelka insisted he did nothing wrong and that he was simply supporting Dieudonne after scoring a goal against West Ham.
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The striker, 37, who has promised to take Roda JC into the Champions League within five years, said at the time: “I have nothing against the Jews. It is an incident from years ago. I went to court and I was cleared.
“I am not guilty. For me, it is over.”
Despite the "consultant" title, Anelka has been given free reign by Korotaev, who met Anelka when they were neighbours in Dubai.
The ex-Manchester City forward has spent the last four years working as a player-manager for clubs in China and India and has been allowed by Korotaev to hire and fire people, having pumped millions into the club to try and avoid relegation from the Dutch top flight.
Anelka added: “I am going to produce a lot of players for the academy – that is the way I want to work here. I have a massive network and I am going to bring talent to the club.”
And Anelka's reign at the club who was famously run on a shoestring budget could not get off to a more difficult start – as Roda face giants Ajax at home on Sunday.
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