Israel's Abu Farchi sent off after corner flag celebration
Soccer Football - Nations League - Group G - Austria v Israel - Raiffeisen Arena, Linz, Austria - September 24, 2026 Israel's Roy Revivo, Idan Nachmias and Dor Peretz remonstrate with referee Georgi Kabakov after Israel's Sayed Abu Farchi is shown a red card REUTERS/Elisabeth Mandl
(Removes reference to gun gesture in headline and paras 1 and 3)
Sept 24 : Israel forward Saied Abu Farchi was sent off for celebrating his goal against Austria in their 3-1 UEFA Nations League defeat on Thursday after using the corner flag in a gesture Israeli media said was a snooker-themed celebration.
Abu Farchi headed home in the 55th minute to bring Israel level after Austria had taken the lead through a Romano Schmid penalty before halftime at the Raiffeisen Arena in Linz.
The 20-year-old ran to the corner flag, grabbed it and held it out in front of himself before raising it upwards.
The referee had booked Abu Farchi four minutes earlier and showed him a second yellow card for the celebration, followed by a red, leaving Israel with 10 players.
Austria regained the lead in the 90th minute through Phillipp Mwene, who netted following a cross from Paul Wanner. Sasa Kalajdzic added a third in stoppage time with a close-range finish.
