After legal dispute:

El Ghazi wants to donate Mainz money to war children

Professional footballer Anwar El Ghazi says he has received 500,000 euros from his former employer FSV Mainz 05. The Dutchman, who has played for Cardiff City since August, announced this on Instagram. 

The Bundesliga club confirmed corresponding payments in response to a dpa inquiry, which relate to salaries from November 2023 to July 2024.

Both parties are involved in a legal dispute after Mainz terminated El Ghazi's contract following a pro-Palestinian Instagram post following the attack on Israel by terrorists on behalf of Hamas on October 7. The 29-year-old had filed a lawsuit against this. In July, the labor court declared the termination without notice invalid. The club then announced that it would appeal to the Rhineland-Palatinate state labor court as soon as the written reasons for the ruling were available.

In July, El Ghazi then terminated his one-year contract with the Rheinhessen club without notice in order to move to Cardiff. The club's appeal against the ruling is still ongoing. Should Mainz be successful, they would receive the money back.

El Ghazi wants to donate the sum received. "I hope that Mainz, despite their failed attempts to avoid the payment due, will take comfort from the knowledge that through me they have contributed financially to making life a little more bearable for the children in Gaza," he wrote on Instagram.