A French Ligue 1 football club has suspended one of its team captains for a match after he publicly stated he believed the club’s home city was in Germany, prompting a disciplinary response over “lack of respect” for club values.
RC Strasbourg announced the suspension of forward Emanuel Emegha, effective for their upcoming Ligue 1 match against Toulouse on Saturday.
The club stated the decision was made after Emegha “lacked respect for the values of the club and did not comply with its imposed rules.”
The specific comments causing the disciplinary action were made by Emegha during an interview with Dutch media outlets while on international break.
He openly admitted confusion about Strasbourg’s geographical location.
“To be honest, I didn’t even know where Strasbourg was,” Emegha was quoted saying. “I thought it was in Germany, but it’s in France after all. Well, at least now everyone knows where Strasbourg is.”
These remarks reportedly generated “enormous indignation” within the club’s management.
Strasbourg is located in the Alsace region of France. This territory has a complex history, having been part of Germany at various times before its definitive return to French sovereignty after World War II.
The club’s management viewed Emegha’s public comments as highly disrespectful, inadvertently touching upon sensitive historical and national identity issues surrounding the city and region.