LONDON: German football club Fortuna Dusseldorf has canceled the signing of Israeli striker Shon Weissman following a backlash over his alleged links to controversial social media posts about the war in Gaza.
The club confirmed the decision on Tuesday. In a brief statement on X it said: “We looked into Shon Weissman intensively, but ultimately decided not to sign him.”
While the club did not elaborate, German newspaper Bild reported that the decision followed an outcry by fans over Weissman’s online comments, some of which were described as “disrespectful and discriminatory.”
The player had already arrived in Dusseldorf and completed his medical checks.
News of Weissman’s planned move from Spanish side Granada sparked online protests on Monday. Critics said his posts were at odds with Fortuna’s values and “the principles the club stands for and promotes.”
The club initially responded to the criticism by defending the player.
A post on Fortuna’s account published late on Monday said: “What’s going on here? I keep getting messages. Judging people you don’t know based on their Wikipedia page? That doesn’t reflect our values.”
Was geht hier ab? Bekomme im Feierabend eine Benachrichtigung nach der anderen.
Grundsätzlich: Menschen, die man nicht kennt, anhand eines Wikipedia-Artikels bewerten?! Passt eigentlich nicht zu unserer Bubble…— Fortuna Düsseldorf (@f95)
But the post was soon obscured and the club — reportedly aware of the earlier posts — called off the €500,000 ($580,000) deal.
Weissman, who has 33 caps for Israel, has been involved in several online controversies in recent years and was unpopular among some Granada supporters.
Following the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel, he allegedly wrote or endorsed multiple inflammatory statements, including calls to “wipe Gaza off the map” and to “drop 200 tons of bombs on it,” according to Bild.
He also reportedly liked a post that said “there are no innocents (in Gaza), they don’t need to be warned.”
In 2023, a prosecutor in Granada received a hate speech complaint related to Weissman’s online activity. The player’s agent later claimed the posts were made by a social media manager with access to his accounts and were subsequently deleted.
This is not the first time the Gaza war has had repercussions in German football.
Dutch international Anwar El Ghazi was sacked by Bundesliga side Mainz over comments he made online about the conflict. He later won a wrongful dismissal case against the club, which is currently under appeal.
Former Bayern Munich defender and current Manchester United player Noussair Mazraoui also faced a backlash for social media posts expressing solidarity with Palestinians, including one calling for “victory” for “our oppressed brothers in Palestine.” He later issued a public apology.
