“His suspension is over,” Francesco Farioli, the coach of Nice (Ligue 1), said Thursday about Algerian international Youcef Atal, sanctioned by his club in October after sharing a video calling for “a black day on the Jews”, against a backdrop of war between Israel and Hamas.
“The communication is very clear: the player is under contract until June. He will be back. His suspension is over. So the player is available,” said Farioli when asked the question of a possible return to the professional group of Atal, eliminated from the CAN with Algeria.
Unlike his compatriot Hicham Boudaoui, who was due to return to Nice this Thursday, Youcef Atal is only expected “Monday” on the Côte d’Azur and will therefore not be able to participate in the L1 match against Metz on Sunday, according to the same source . “It was decided to give him a few extra days of rest,” said the Aiglons coach. While the winter transfer window is open until midnight on January 31, Nice has also just recruited Valentin Rosier, a player playing in the same position as Atal. As a result, according to sources close to the matter, a departure of the Algerian international before the end of the month is increasingly likely.
At the beginning of January, Youcef Atal was sentenced by the Nice criminal court to eight months in prison and a fine of 45,000 euros for having shared on his Instagram account a video of a preacher calling for “a black day on the Jews” .
The player, who apologized after deleting this publication, appealed the judgment. Atal published this video a few days after Hamas’s unprecedented attacks against Israel on October 7, and the start of Israeli bombardments on the Gaza Strip, a territory ruled by the Palestinian Islamist movement. He was also suspended for seven matches by the disciplinary committee of the Professional Football League, and has not reappeared in the Nice jersey since.
