Israel's Sayed Abu Farchi was sent off during his side's Nations League defeat by Austria after picking up a corner flag during his goal celebration.

The 20-year-old earned a second yellow card when he lifted the corner flag, rested it over his hand and then quickly raised it over his head.

Some reports, external have suggested Farchi's celebration was mimicking the firing of a gun, though others claimed he was imitating a snooker or pool shot.

Uefa rules say a player must be cautioned for "gesturing or acting in a provocative, derisory or inflammatory way", while removing the corner flag is also a bookable offence.

It is unclear why the referee decided to show Farchi, who is Arab-Israeli, a second yellow card.

BBC Sport has approached Uefa for comment.

Israel manager Ran Ben-Shimon says Colorado Rapids midfielder regularly does the celebration in Major League Soccer (MLS) and has not been booked before.

"I've seen it before and everyone can check," said Ben-Shimon.

"When this young player scores, in the Israeli national team or the MLS or anywhere he plays, he celebrates in the same situation again and again and he never gets a yellow card about it.

"He didn't know about it, this is his way to celebrate every goal he scores. He's a young player, I'm sure this lesson will stay with him a long time, he made a mistake."

Farchi's sending off came in a week where Israel's actions in Gaza have made football headlines, with a campaign for the Republic of Ireland to boycott their two upcoming matches.

The home and away games against the Irish are set to go ahead at neutral venues.

More than 73,000 people have been killed in Israeli attacks, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry, whose figures are considered reliable by the United Nations (UN).

The war was triggered by the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.

Austria won the game in Linz 3-1 thanks to Romano Schmid's opener and late strikes from Phillipp Mwene and Sasa Kalajdzic.