Israel forward Sayed Abu Farhi was sent off during his side’s 1-3 defeat to Austria in the UEFA Nations League for appearing to mimic shooting a gun during his goal celebration at the Raiffeisen Arena in Linz.
Austria had taken the lead through a Romano Schmid penalty before half-time, but the 20-year-old equalised for Israel in the 55th minute. After scoring, Abu Farhi ran towards the corner flag, grabbed it and made a gun-firing gesture as he celebrated the goal. Abu Farhi did not receive a straight red card for the celebration. Instead, he was shown a second yellow card, having been booked just four minutes earlier.
The referee has yet to officially clarify the reason for the second booking, but there can be multiple possible explanations for the decision. Under the Laws of the Game, a player can be booked for a goal celebration if it is deemed provocative, derisory or inflammatory.
Israel were reduced to 10 men for the remainder of the match, and Austria took full advantage. They regained the lead in the 90th minute through Phillipp Mwene, before Sasa Kalajdzic added a third in stoppage time with a close-range finish to seal the victory for Austria.
