Strasbourg suspended striker Emmanuel Emegha for one game on Wednesday for not respecting “the values, expectations and rules" of the Ligue 1 club.
Strasbourg announced the decision in a statement without giving further details, but said that Emegha will return for the following game.
“This decision was made following the player's recent non-respect (breach) of the club's values, expectations, and rules,” the statement read. “Emmanuel remains an important member of our team, who has always given his all for the club on the pitch. He will be reinstated to the squad after this match.”
Strasbourg travels to play Toulouse in the French league on Saturday and then goes to Scotland to face Aberdeen in the Conference League on Dec. 11.
Emegha accepted the club's decision.
“I accept and understand the club's decision to suspend me for this weekend. I'm 22 years old, I've made mistakes and I know I still have a lot to learn,” he posted on Instagram. “Sometimes my words can be misunderstood, especially if you don't know me. But one thing is certain: I have the utmost respect for Strasbourg.”
French sports daily L'Equipe said the decision was taken after recent comments to the media by Emegha, who is the club captain.
In a post-match interview last month, after scoring twice in a 2-0 win against Lille, he implied Strasbourg had not beaten Monaco and Paris Saint-Germain this season because he didn't play in those games.
In another interview with a Dutch media outlet, the Netherlands striker reportedly said he thought Strasbourg was in Germany when he was set to join the club two years ago.
Emegha impressed last season with 14 league goals as Alsace-based Strasbourg finished seventh. He has four league goals in seven games so far this season, and three goals in European competition.
Strasbourg reached the Europa Conference League after beating Danish side Bröndby in a playoff, with Emegha scoring twice in the second leg.
In September, Strasbourg coach Liam Rosenior hit out at fans who displayed a banner criticizing Emegha and urging him to return the captain's armband because of his move next season to Premier League Chelsea.
Strasbourg has been owned by Chelsea’s ownership group, BlueCo, since 2023.
A banner in the crowd during a home game against Le Havre read: “Emegha, pawn of BlueCo. After changing shirts, give your armband back.” Emegha had posted a video on Instagram of him flying to London and signing with Chelsea, which reportedly upset Strasbourg fans.
A section of Strasbourg’s home fans have been hostile to BlueCo ever since they arrived.
The partnership between the two clubs was used several times this summer, most notably when Chelsea sold England left back Ben Chilwell to Strasbourg on a two-year deal.
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Strasbourg's Emanuel Emegha, right, celebrates after scoring a goal during the Europa Conference League opening phase soccer match between Strasbourg and Crystal Palace in Strasbourg, France, Thursday, Nov. 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Antonin Utz)
Strasbourg's Emanuel Emegha, right, celebrates after scoring a goal during the Europa Conference League opening phase soccer match between Strasbourg and Crystal Palace in Strasbourg, France, Thursday, Nov. 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Antonin Utz)
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are rushing higher worldwide, and oil prices are easing Wednesday as hopes build that the war with Iran could end soon. That's even though some of the signals investors saw as hopeful are already under dispute, and several prior bouts of optimism in financial markets quickly got undercut by continued, fierce fighting in the war.
The S&P 500 rallied 0.9% and added to its leap from the day before, which was its best since last spring. That followed even bigger gains for stock markets across Europe and Asia, including an 8.4% surge in South Korea, which were catching up to Wall Street’s rally from Tuesday.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 294 points, or 0.6%, as of 2:08 p.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 1.3% higher.
Oil prices also fell back toward $100 per barrel after President Donald Trump said late Tuesday that the U.S. military could end its offensive in two to three weeks.
That added to optimism following a couple tenuous signals of hope from earlier Tuesday that Wall Street latched onto, including a news report quoting Iran’s president as saying that it has “the necessary will to end the war” as long as certain requirements are met, including “guarantees to prevent a recurrence of aggression.”
The worry on Wall Street has been that the war may last a long time and keep oil and natural gas from the Persian Gulf out of global markets, which could create a brutal blast of inflation.
But hope has been quick to reverse to doubt on Wall Street, triggering manic swings back and forth for financial markets since the war with Iran began. Trump has also made statements that lifted markets, only to see the gains quickly disappear after increasing his military threats.
Shortly before Wall Street began trading on Wednesday, Trump claimed in a post on his social media network that Iran “has just asked the United States of America for a CEASEFIRE!”
“We will consider when Hormuz Strait is open, free, and clear. Until then, we are blasting Iran into oblivion or, as they say, back to the Stone Ages!!!”
But Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, Esmail Baghaei, quickly called that claim “false and baseless,” according to a report on Iranian state television.
Oil prices also remain high, even if they’ve eased recently. The price for a barrel of Brent crude oil, the international standard, was sitting at $101.51 following its declines, which is still up from roughly $70 before the war began.
U.S. gasoline prices rose again overnight to a national average of $4.06 per gallon, according to the auto club AAA.
Iran, meanwhile, hit an oil tanker off the coast of Qatar and Kuwait’s airport on Wednesday while airstrikes battered Tehran as the fighting continued. Iran also continues to hold a grip on the Strait of Hormuz, where a fifth of the world’s traded oil passes during peacetime.
“De-escalation hopes have given markets a lift, but we think the effects of the war would, in many cases, persist even if the war did end soon,” Thomas Mathews, head of markets, Asia Pacific at Capital Economics, said in a research note Wednesday.
“It’s worth thinking through how markets might fare if the war were to end ‘very soon,’” he wrote. “Do markets have further to recover if sentiment continues to improve? The answer is almost certainly yes.”
The White House said Trump will deliver a public address Wednesday evening on the Iran war.
On Wall Street, most stocks rose as Big Tech powered the move higher. Gains of 3.8% for Alphabet and 0.8% for Nvidia were two of the strongest forces lifting the S&P 500.
Eli Lilly climbed 5.1% after U.S. regulators approved its GLP-1 pill for weight loss.
Such gains have pulled the S&P 500, which sits at the heart of many 401(k) accounts, back to within 5.6% of its all-time high set early this year. Just on Monday, the index briefly neared a 10% drop from its record, a steep-enough fall that professional investors have a name for it: a “correction.”
Nike sank 14.5% even though it reported a stronger profit for the latest quarter than expected. Analysts said it gave some lackluster financial forecasts.
Hasbro fell 4.8% after the toy company found someone had gained unauthorized access to its computer network and is working to assess the full impact.
Energy companies fell broadly as oil prices eased. Exxon Mobil slumped 5% and Chevron fell 4.9%.
In stock markets abroad, indexes leaped more than 2% in France and Germany. Asian markets had even bigger gains.
Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 jumped 5.2% after a survey showed business sentiment for major Japanese manufacturers improved despite worries about the Iran war.
In the bond market, Treasury yields held relatively steady after a report said U.S. retailers made more money in February than economists expected. A separate report said U.S. manufacturing growth last month was slightly faster than economists expected.
The 10-year Treasury yield rose to 4.32% from 4.30% late Tuesday.
AP Business Writers Chan Ho-him and Matt Ott contributed.
James Conti works on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Tuesday, March 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Philip Finale works on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Tuesday, March 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Currency traders watch monitors near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), left, at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, April 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
Currency traders watch monitors near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), top center, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won, top center left, at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, April 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
Currency traders work at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, April 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
A currency trader reacts near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), right, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, April 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
A screen displays financial information on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Tuesday, March 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
