The 20-year-old forward had barely finished celebrating when referee Georgi Kabakov reached for the yellow. Abu Farchi’s equaliser against Austria on Thursday, 24 September, went in on 55 minutes at the Raiffeisen Arena in Linz. He ran to the corner, pulled the flag out of the ground, dropped to one knee and pointed it as if it were a rifle. It was his second booking of the night. He walked.
Israel, a man down, then conceded twice in the closing minutes to lose 3-1.
Romano Schmid had put Austria ahead from the penalty spot before half-time. After Abu Farchi’s dismissal, Phillipp Mwene restored the lead in the 90th minute and Sasa Kalajdzic finished a fast break in stoppage time to complete the win. The scoreline is confirmed in the match report.
Why the second yellow
Kabakov had booked Abu Farchi four minutes before the goal. Under the Laws of the Game a player can be cautioned for “gesturing or acting in a provocative, derisory or inflammatory way”, and the rulebook adds that celebrations “must not be excessive”, the framework set out by GiveMeSport’s rules explainer. With one yellow already on his record, the mimed rifle with the flag was enough.
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Some viewers argued the gesture looked more like a pool cue than a weapon. The referee did not agree.
The backdrop the celebration landed in
Abu Farchi’s flag routine was not a neutral piece of theatre. It arrived at a moment when Israel’s participation in UEFA competitions is being contested at the highest level.
Two days before kick-off in Linz, Amnesty International called the Israel Football Association’s inclusion in the Nations League “unconscionable” and demanded UEFA suspend the country while the war in Gaza continues, in a statement from its European regional director Steve Cockburn. The Football Association of Ireland has previously called for the same step.
UEFA has kept the fixtures on the calendar, but has moved the sensitive matches. Ireland’s two ties against Israel will be played behind closed doors at neutral grounds in Hungary and Serbia.
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Israel’s row with Ireland
The Israel FA has been trading blows with the Irish setup in public. It posted on X, in a response aimed at the Ireland head coach Heimir Hallgrimsson: “We have contributed to the world and humanity… Unfortunately, we have not yet found a cure for stupidity, ignorance and hypocrisy displayed by @IrelandFootball team coach.” Hallgrimsson had said in the run-up to the fixtures that “none of us feel comfortable playing in these games”.
Abu Farchi will be suspended for Israel’s next Nations League match after his red card. His side already sit bottom of Group B3 alongside Ireland, who lost 1-0 at home to Kosovo on the same matchday. The two teams meet at a neutral venue in Hungary on 27 September, behind closed doors.
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