Manor Solomon described a difficult spell at Villarreal in an interview on Sport 5’s "Asnaheim Me’arech," saying that one Moroccan player would not shake his hand in the dressing room and did not join the celebrations after goals. The player was identified as 22-year-old winger Ilias Akhomach.
Akhomach was born in Spain to Moroccan parents and developed at Barcelona’s famed La Masia academy, where he was regarded as one of the most promising players of his generation. He did not make the leap to Barcelona’s first team and left in summer 2023 on a free transfer from Barcelona B to Villarreal.
Although he played for Spain’s youth teams, Akhomach chose to represent Morocco internationally. He made a small number of appearances in World Cup qualifying, but was not selected for Morocco’s current World Cup squad. In January, Villarreal extended his contract until 2028 and immediately loaned him to Rayo Vallecano for the rest of the season.
The article says this was not his first anti-Israel gesture. In November 2023, about a month after the October 7 attack, Villarreal hosted Maccabi Haifa in the Europa League and held a minute of silence for the Israeli victims. Akhomach and Algeria captain Aissa Mandi did not honor it, instead refusing to stand with their teammates in the center circle.
