Troubled striker Nicolas Anelka announced on his twitter page that he was quitting West Brom, only to be confirmed by the club that he was actually ‘sacked’.Anelka was given a 5-match ban and a 80000 pound fine following his quenelle gesture during a goal celebration.
The club also considered his announcement on social media as a gross misconduct and terminated his services. So, what is quenelle?
The quenelle is a gesture which is performed by pointing one arm diagonally downwards palm down, while touching the shoulder with the opposite hand.
French political activist and comedian Dieudonné M’bala M’bala is credited with creating and popularizing the gesture, which he first used in 2005 in his sketch entitled “1905” about French secularism and has used since in a wide variety of contexts.
The name quenelle comes from an elongated fish meatballs dish, which is said to look like a suppository. Hence, the phrase “mettre une quenelle” (“to give someone the quenelle”), with a gesture simulating fisting practice, is similar to the English “up yours”. The arm outstretched refers to the length of the arm going up one’s bottom.
However, many groups consider the gesture as an inverted Nazi salute and a support of the antisemitism movement. This has been the major source of disapproval against the gesture. Dieudonné M’bala M’bala is a good friend of Anelka and Anelka has used the gesture in many instances, but was reprimanded when he used it in an EPL match. Here he is seen with the comedian:
