Regional labour court rejects appeal in El Ghazi case

The Rhineland-Palatinate regional labour court announced on Wednesday that it has rejected the appeal in the Anwar El Ghazi case. This means the first-instance ruling from summer 2024 remains in place.

At that time, the Mainz labour court had declared the club’s immediate termination of El Ghazi’s contract to be invalid. As a result, Mainz 05 paid the Dutchman the contractually agreed salary for the period in question.

El Ghazi had published an anti-Israeli social media post immediately after the terrorist attack carried out by Hamas on 7th October 2023, but then showed remorse and understanding in a subsequent internal meeting with the Mainz 05 board, which initially led the club to issue a warning instead of terminating his contract. Following a second post from El Ghazi, which effectively reversed the agreement reached in the earlier discussion, the club felt compelled to proceed with immediate termination.

The chamber interpreted the posts objectively and, in the necessary balancing of interests, concluded that in this case freedom of expression outweighed the interests of the employer. A summary dismissal was therefore not justified. Contrary to some reports, any potential missed deadline played no role in the rejection of the appeal.

Hofmann: “We stand by our position”

Stefan Hofmann, club president of 1. FSV Mainz 05 and chairman of the board, said: “We have to accept the court’s decision that the conduct of our employee following the heinous Hamas attack in 2023 did not constitute sufficient grounds for immediate termination. However, we stand firmly by our position: based on the values and principles that define Mainz 05, there can be no future employment for individuals whose statements or actions fundamentally contradict them.”