Islamabad, Aug 27: Anwar El Ghazi, a Dutch football player, has declared that he will give €500,000 of his recent settlement to help Gazan children. This figure amounts to one-third of the total amount he was paid by Mainz 05 following the decision of a German court to declare his contract termination to be unfair.
November 2023 saw the conclusion of El Ghazi’s Mainz contract, which had been suspended by the Bundesliga team after a social media post in which he expressed support for Palestinians amidst the escalating Israel-Hamas conflict.
The termination came after a stretch of particularly violent incidents, such as the October 2023 attack on southern Israel by Hamas, which prompted a strong military reaction and resulted in significant losses on both sides.
In a decision last month, the German Labour Court declared Mainz’s actions to be unlawful and ordered the payment of €1.7 million, or nine months’ worth of wages owed to El Ghazi. The footballer was compensated by the club with €1.5 million. El Ghazi stressed in his social media statement that there was never any intention of making money off of the legal issue.
“I want to be clear that my legal battle with Mainz has never been about money, even after obtaining a sizable sum from them today. I would like to use this opportunity to express my gratitude to Mainz for two things. Firstly, the large financial payout of $500k will go toward funding programs that benefit the children of Gaza. I hope Mainz finds comfort in the idea that, through me, they have made a financial contribution to the effort to slightly improve the lives of the Gaza children, despite their persistently unsuccessful attempts to evade making the required payment. Second, by trying to silence me, they are amplifying my voice in support of Gaza’s downtrodden and voiceless people. On his X account, he wrote.
Rather, he thanked Mainz for the payment, which he intends to utilize to fund charitable endeavors in Gaza. He also emphasized how his dedication to standing up for those impacted by the dispute has been strengthened by the uproar surrounding his dismissal.
Despite the larger humanitarian and geopolitical challenges that are playing out in the region, El Ghazi, who recently joined Cardiff City, expressed hope that his donation would provide some respite to the youngsters of Gaza.
