Fulham's goalkeeper David Stockdale, right, holds onto the ball as he clashes with West Brom's Nicolas Anelka during their English Premier League soccer match between Fulham and West Bromwich Albion at Fulham's Craven Cottage stadium in London Saturday, Sept. 14 2013. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP/Alastair Grant
January 22, 2014 - 6:56 AM
LONDON - A statement on Nicolas Anelka's Facebook page quotes the West Bromwich Albion striker as challenging the English Football Association's charge for a racially aggravated gesture.
Anelka wrote: "I ask the English FA to kindly lift the charges alleged against me. And I repeat, I am not anti-Semitic or racist."
He was charged on Tuesday by the association for performing a gesture considered to be anti-Semitic while celebrating a goal.
Anelka then used his Twitter account to link to an online video from a French Jewish leader who said the player shouldn't be punished. Roger Cukierman, President of the Representative Council of French Jewish Institutions, said it was a "gesture of rebellion."
Anelka on Wednesday said Cukierman is the "best expert" to the gesture's meaning.
News from © The Associated Press, 2014