Kayal’s social media storm

Israel have imposed a ban on players posting on social media after former Celtic midfielder Beram Kayal caused a storm.

The Israelis warmed up for tonight’s game in Scotland with a 7-0 win over Guatemala last week. After the game, Kayal, inset, posted a picture on Instagram, later deleted, of the seven Arab players in the Israel squad with the caption ‘The Bosses’.

That sparked a major row in the Israeli squad, which has suffered from serious political and religious divisions before between the Arab players and the rest of the group.

Kayal’s post prompted a hastily-arranged team meeting before the squad flew to Glasgow and Guangzhou midfielder Eran Zahavi revealed the social media blackout. He said: “Beram Kayal and the rest of the Arab players in the squad made it very clear there was no bad intentions meant when he posted that. We had a conversation and we all agreed the most important thing is the team’s success.

“We don’t want to create a media circus about this and have agreed to not post anything until after the game in Scotland.”