Former Israeli soccer star Eyal Berkovic has spoken about the tense relationships he says he experienced with Muslim players during his time at Manchester City, revealing that he felt hostility from teammates amid competition for a place in the starting lineup.
Berkovic made the remarks during a discussion on Radio 103FM about the violent unrest in France, which reminded him of his years playing alongside French soccer players in England.
“It wasn’t fun," Berkovic said. “The hardest was Nicolas Anelka, but at Manchester City I had 12 Frenchmen, most of them Muslims."
According to Berkovic, tensions within the team centered in part on competition between him and Algerian midfielder Ali Benarbia, who had to remain on the bench while Berkovic played in the starting lineup.
“They didn’t like me, to put it mildly. It was 12 Muslims against Eyal," he claimed. “Their star, apart from Anelka, was an Algerian named Ali Benarbia. I played and he stayed on the bench. All 11 of them resented me. Why was I playing and not him?"
Berkovic also shared an unusual memory from the team’s dining room, saying the players had brought their own Muslim French chef.
“They brought their own Muslim French chef. Every time he brought out the food, I would tell him, ‘You eat first,’" he recalled.
Later in the discussion, French affairs blogger and expert Itai Selyar addressed the wave of unrest in France, which included violent demonstrations, arson and looting. Selyar argued that, unlike previous riots, the latest incidents involved organized and coordinated actions rather than spontaneous outbreaks of violence.
“Now they simply set dates. The next date will be November 5. They call it an ‘act,’ a phase," he explained.
According to Selyar, the events have also provoked unusually emotional reactions among the French public. He cited footage of a business owner in Lyon who angrily confronted the city’s mayor over the situation.
“The French are becoming emotional, and that is not very common. They are a people capable of being as blunt as you can imagine, but in a very polite way. That is their specialty," he said.
Selyar stressed that, in his view, coordination among participants was the main challenge facing security forces.
“What is different from previous riots is that this time it is organized in an absolutely exemplary manner," he said.
According to Selyar, the interior minister said the authorities had been unable to bring the riots under control because they were coordinated.
“These are not spontaneous rampages. This time, they coordinated among themselves when they would attack and what they would target," he said.