Bayern Munich’s Mazraoui Under Fire for Pro-Palestinian Social Media Post

Will Bayern Munich fire Noussair Mazraoui? In a video posted on Instagram showing the image of a Palestinian flag being waved, accompanied by a voiceover sounding like a prayer: "God help our persecuted brothers in Palestine, so that they may obtain victory. May God have mercy on the dead, may God heal the wounded," the Moroccan international wishes "victory" for the Palestinians in the conflict opposing them to Israel. He captioned the word Ameen and a praying hands emoji.

Subsequently, he shared the Instagram stories of four teammates from the Moroccan national team - Bayern defender himself, as well as Hakim Ziyech (Galatasaray Istanbul), Zakaria Aboukhlal (FC Toulouse) and midfielder 2019/2020 of SC Paderborn Abdelhamid Sabiri (currently, Saudi Pro club Al-Fayha FC) with the caption: "The Moroccan national team players Aboukhlal, Ziyech, Mazraoui and Sabiri have all posted stories in support of Palestine, but you can only see the stories if you go to their profile, they’re trying to silence us, it’s literally us against the world!" The four shared the message on their own Instagram accounts.

By choosing to support Palestine, Mazraoui has taken the opposite stance to that of his club. Bayern Munich, for its part, supports Israel. On X, the German team says it is "concerned for our friends in Israel." The backup goalkeeper in Munich, Daniel Peretz, of Israeli origin, has shared messages on Instagram in which he calls on athletes to speak out against terrorism. The Atlas Lion’s message has sparked reactions from Internet users. Some have defended the Moroccan while others have called for his immediate dismissal. Arrived in Munich in 2022 from Ajax, he is under contract until 2026. If the eternal Bundesliga champion deemed it necessary to suspend or even fire the 25-year-old player, it would further strain his already overloaded defense, analyzes DW.

Faced with the controversy, Mazraoui has sought to clarify his messages. "First of all, I would like to say that it is really disappointing that I have to explain what I represent. There is a situation where thousands of innocents are being murdered every day. [...] We must all oppose and denounce it. It is simply inhumane," he begins. He will add: "My position is to work for peace and justice in this world. This means