British hockey player Simon Egerton has been found innocent after being accused of celebrating a goal that looked like a Hitler salute.
Egerton had criminal charges filed against him following his reaction to the winning goal he scored for his Dutch club HC Rotterdam against Hurley.
The 32-year-old threw his hockey stick to the ground and raised his right arm into the air and appeared to put his left hand across his mouth.
But Egerton insists he was just doing a mic drop on the hockey pitch and wanted to silence the opposition.
Egerton, speaking in The Sun, said: "None of my team-mates recognised this as a Hitler salute. I would never do such a thing.
“I was just happy with my goal and I wanted to silence that other player who I was fighting with the entire match."
The celebration caused immediate outrage and a Dutch commentator said at the time: “He can celebrate, but in what a strange fashion he is doing so.
“It looks very weird how Egerton is celebrating his goal. What must one think about it?”
The Federative Jewish Netherlands (FJN) made their feelings known on the celebrations and filed a criminal complaint.
Victor Loonstein, a member of the Jewish organisation, said: “The TV images are not our source.
“We are basing ourselves on a movie which was sent to us by a spectator. It clearly shows that this was a Hitler salute, there are no doubts about that.”
But Mark van Rijn, Commissioner Top Sports at Rotterdam Hockey Club, said: “Egerton was verbally harassed by an opponent after he scored a goal. As a reply he made a gesture: ‘hey, act normal!’
“On the images it maybe looks unfortunate, but if you analyse it image by image you see that it’s no Hitler salute.”