No room for doubt about Anelka

It should be relatively easy for the FA to deal with Nicolas Anelka. He has knowingly, deliberately and provocatively made an antisemitic gesture during a match. Ignore the nonsense being put about that there is any ambiguity to the ‘quenelle’ — that it is ‘anti-establishment’ rather than antisemitic. That is the whole point — it emanates from Dieudonne, a rabid antisemite who says that ‘the Jews’ form the establishment in France and so have to be taken on.

As if that was not bad enough, Anelka has refused to show the least remorse or offer any explanation — let alone apology — beyond the claim that he was simply showing solidarity with his friend, Dieudonne. It is as if he had said that Nick Griffin was a friend and in making a reverse Nazi salute he was simply showing solidarity. And that is his defence!

So there is really very little for the FA to think about. There is no room for debate, as there often is with violent conduct, about what actually happened. Anelka made the salute, which is unambiguous in meaning. That is the be all and end all of the matter. Anything less than the severest possible punishment will show that the FA thinks a public display of antisemitism by players is a relatively insignificant offence.

As for West Bromwich Albion: no one would expect Keith Downing, the manager, to have known about the quenelle before Sunday. But instead of saying nothing or bothering to find out about the salute before opening his mouth, he chose to speak from total ignorance, attacking all criticism of Anelka as “absolute rubbish really”.