What is the quenelle, why did Nicolas Anelka do it and why is it controversial?
NICOLAS ANELKA was one of the biggest talents in football at the top of his game, but also had a career shrouded in controversy.
And there was no moment during his 19 years as a footballer more controversial than when he performed the ‘quenelle’ while playing for West Brom.
The Frenchman’s time on the pitch is now being laid bare in a new Netflix documentary – Anelka: Misunderstood.
What is the quenelle?
The quenelle is a gesture created by French comedian and close friend of Anelka Dieudonne M’bala M’bala.
It involves lowering your outstretched arm in front of you and placing your hand flat above your elbow.
The gesture has therefore been likened by some to an inverted Nazi salute.
‘La quenelle’ in French is a long meatball or fish ball. However, in slang it means a finger or penis.
In the context Dieudonne used it, the gesture means, symbolically, that you want to shove your ‘quenelle’ up the backside of an enemy.
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Why is the quenelle controversial?
Anelka and Dieudonne have denied any association with the Nazi salute, claiming the target of the quenelle is the French establishment.
But since its rise in usage, the stance has often been linked with antisemitism.
People have been caused anger and fuelled hatred by adopting the pose and being photographed outside Holocaust locations such as Auschwitz and the Holocaust Memorial in Berlin.
Dieudonne describes himself as an anti-Zionist, but not an antisemite.
He stated that the quenelle is a humorous “anti-system” gesture which has no association with antisemitism.
Who is Dieudonne M’bala M’Bala?
Dieudonne is a French comedian and actor who has also made a name for himself as a political activist.
He has eight convictions for inciting hatred against Jews, had many of his shows banned by local authorities and once mocked a Jewish reporter by suggesting it was a pity they were not sent to a gas chamber.
Since Anelka used the gesture, Dieudonne was sentenced to two weeks in jail and fined €9,000 in Belgium in 2015 for “defamatory, antisemitic and revisionist” talk during a show in March 2012.
And the following year, the Court of Appeal of Paris upheld a 2015 conviction of inciting racial hatred.
He was also banned from entering the UK in 2014 to visit Anelka as he was deemed a threat to “public security”.
Why did Anelka use the gesture?
During his spell with the West Brom, the striker celebrated a goal in the 3-3 draw with West Ham in December 2013 by performing the quenelle.
Anelka defended his use and wrote on Twitter: “(The) meaning of quenelle: anti-system. I do not know what the word ‘religion’ has to do with this story!
“This is a dedication to Dieudonne. With regard to the ministers who give their own interpretations of my quenelle, they are the ones that create confusion and controversy without knowing what it really means, this gesture.”
The former Arsenal, Real Madrid, PSG and Chelsea man did agree not to use the gesture again.
A West Brom statement said: “The club fully acknowledges that Nicolas’ goal celebration has caused offence in some quarters and has asked Nicolas not to perform the gesture again. Nicolas immediately agreed to adhere to this request.”
Anelka was subsequently banned for five matches by the FA and fined £80,000 while Zoopla terminated their sponsorship deal with the Baggies.