Youcef Atal: Algerian soccer star given suspended sentence by French court, fined $49,000 for Israel-Gaza post

Algerian international player Youcef Atal, who plays for French club OGC Nice, has been handed a suspended sentence and a 45,000 euro fine ($49,000) following a social media repost regarding the Israel-Gaza conflict.

Algerian international player Youcef Atal, who plays for French club OGC Nice, has been handed a suspended sentence and a €45,000 fine ($49,000) following a social media repost regarding the Israel-Gaza conflict. “Mr. Atal was found guilty and sentenced to an 8-month suspended prison sentence, a 45,000 euro fine,” the court said in a statement released Wednesday and obtained by CNN. A court in Nice said the repost provoked hatred on the grounds of religion, according to Reuters. The 27-year-old Atal will also have to pay for details of the conviction to be published in French newspapers Nice Matin and Le Monde, according to the court. The day after the Hamas October 7 attack, Atal republished a 35-second video by a Palestinian preacher who called on God to send “a black day over the Jews,” French newspaper Nice-Matin reported, per Reuters. Defender Atal subsequently apologized for the deleted post, according to Reuters, saying on Instagram at the time: “I am aware that my post shocked many people, which wasn’t my intention, and I apologise.”