Red card for Abu Farchi after misunderstanding over corner flag
On Thursday evening, during the Nations League duel between Austria and Israel in Linz, 20‑year-old striker Saied Abu Farchi received a red card after he celebrated his equaliser with a striking corner‑flag act, which the Bulgarian referee Georgi Kabakov interpreted as a shooting gesture.
Celebration leads to red card
Abu Farchi opened the scoring in the 55th minute for the 1‑1 by heading in a cross. For his second appearance he grabbed the corner flag, knelt on one knee and used the flag as if it were a snooker cue. The referee had already shown a yellow card three minutes earlier; the celebration earned a second yellow card, resulting in his dismissal and Israel having to continue with ten men.
Australia wins with three goals
Australia later took advantage of the numerical superiority. In the 90th minute PSV midfielder Paul Wanner provided an assist to left‑back Philipp Mwene, who scored the second goal. In injury time, on the 95th minute, striker Sasa Kalajdzic made the final score 3‑1, leaving Israel without points after the red card.
For his national team debut, Abu Farchi faced Albania in early June, after which he scored his first goal for Israel in this duel against Austria. It was his second international appearance.
On 1 September the 20‑year-old striker made the move to Colorado Rapids. The MLS club paid five million euros to Maccabi Tel Aviv, where Abu Farchi scored fifteen goals in 52 matches.
New information clarifies that the celebration was inspired by snooker and not by a weapon. Abu Farchi wrote on social media: „It is all a celebration of snooker.” National team coach Ran Ben Shimon confirmed: „Abu Farchi celebrates all his goals in this way, you can verify that. Maybe it was my mistake that I did not tell him that he should stop doing that. He must learn from this. It is also a big lesson for us.”
The incident underscores the need for clear guidelines for celebrations, especially in a competitive Nations League match where every card can have a direct impact on the result.