FIFA is considering a worldwide suspension for former West Bromwich Albion striker Nicolas Anelka after a request by the Football Association.
The FA punished Anelka with a five-match ban after the 35-year-old made the ‘quenelle gesture’ in December.
WBA dismissed the player for gross misconduct on Friday, after he claimed to have quit the club on social media.
“The FA has requested the extension of the sanction to have worldwide effect,” a FIFA spokesperson told BBC Sport.
“We are currently analysing the information and documentation at our disposal.”
In January, Anelka denied an FA charge relating to his performing the quenelle – a gesture likened to “an inverted Nazi salute”, and regarded by many to have anti-semitic connotations – after scoring against West Ham United.
Following a two-day hearing in February, the FA’s independent regulatory commission found Anelka guilty on two charges.
Anelka insisted the gesture was in support of his friend, the French comedian Dieudonne M’bala M’bala – the person who first brought the quenelle to prominence, and somebody who has achieved notoriety in France as a result of his anti semitic remarks.
In its verdict, the FA panel stated it did not believe Anelka had been deliberately anti-Semitic but imposed a five-game suspension. West Brom reacted by suspending the player pending an internal investigation and issued Anelka with a fine of £80,000.
Anelka tweeted on Friday: “Following discussions between the club and myself, certain conditions have been set for me to rejoin the group, which I can’t accept.
“In order to preserve my integrity, I’ve terminated my contract with West Brom with immediate effect.”
West Brom claimed the termination was invalid as Anelka had not followed the correct process.
So, that appears to be that for Le Sulk. A naturally gifted striker, yet Anelka never gave the impression that he loved the game, and he was drawn to controversy like a moth to a flame. Indeed, the defining moments of an 18-year playing career that took in 12 different clubs, look destined to be the use of an offensive gesture and his expulsion from the 2010 World Cup for verbally abusing France coach Raymond Domenech.
It’s a pitiful return for one so talented.
