AEK Athens midfielder Giorgos Katidis is the latest celebrity to embrace that “I’m a moron” defense in the wake of a scandal. In celebration of a goal against Veria last week, Katidis did a Nazi salute. It would be an outrage in any country but the Germans in World War II killed as many as 800,000 of his countrymen — though the precise number has been recently debated. He has now been banned from the national team.
Katidis’ teammates also appear unconcerned by the Nazi salute though Brazilian-born teammate, Roger Guerreiro, looked at him in surprise.
In the aftermath, 20-year-old Katidis insists that he was ignorant of the meaning of the salute. A grown man in a nation occupied by the Nazis had no idea what the salute meant? Really. I am not sure what is worse claiming to be a complete moron without any sense of history or being a fascist loving creep. I find the notion that Katidis never went to a World War II movie, let alone read a history book rather unbelievable.
This is not free speech issue. The team has every right to ban racist and offensive gestures, particularly in a country ravages by the Nazis.
Although I believe that it is entirely plausible that Katidis is ignorant of history and that he learned the Nazi salute second-hand from certain leftist media outlets–which I’m sure are plentiful in the leftist Greece.
Leftists have a odd love-hate with the Nazis anyway, so they are easily confused. For example, Jewish leftist actor Richard Belzer came under fire last summer from the Anti-Defamation league for giving a Nazi salute at the Monte Carlo Television Festival in Monaco. Although Belzer cannot claim ignorance the way Katidis could, Belzer tried to argue that he was paying homage to Charlie Chaplin’s “The Great Dictator”, in which Chaplin has a tracking shot in which the camera passes by a statue of Rodan’s The Thinker with his arm doing the Nazi salute. Of course, Belzer failed to note that Chaplin was ridiculing the Nazi salute–and Chaplin’s scene with it is still funny today, even though that film was made well before the Holocaust became public knowledge.
Gene,
I agree with you and AP that we are getting closer.
Sadly, the view from my seat is the same as yours, ap.
On the bright side, at least I’ll already have friends there when they start rounding up the dissidents into the camps.
See ya’ll around “the yard”.
.”..the history of nazi Germany….. Are we that far behind….” -AY
From where I’m sitting, we’re getting closer…
This is not about “free speech”. FIFA’s rules apply to domestic leagues, not just international games. FIFA bans any political statements by players during games, including gestures such as this one.
For those who forget, a player was thrown off the South Korean soccer team at the London olympics last summer after he held up a sign about Dokdo/Takeshima. The IOC and FIFA denied the player a bronze medal after the South Korean team finished third.
This is a team where participation is voluntary…… So if they find his behavior offensive….. Kick him off the team….
I just love the hypos here agreeing that he should be kicked off because of the history of nazi Germany….. Are we that far behind…. Or have we exceeded as a country the inhumanity that hitler, Mussolini, Stalin caused its detractors…..
I agree with Rafflaw that this might be a free speech issue. The only issue I see is whether the organization imposing the ban would be considered state action. Note that it is NOT his club team that has banned him (at least not yet), but it is the Greek National Team. I don’t know enough about the organization, funding, leadership, etc. of the Greek National Team to know whether or not it would be considered state action in the US.
AP,
Why isn’t a gesture considered speech here? Isn’t burning a flag here in the US considered frees speech? Isn’t that even more than a gesture? If you can give a police officer the finger isn’t that gesture protected “speech”? While I decry what the individual did, I believe that it is a free speech issue. Now, whether he has a contractual duty to not make political statements while on the job as a soccer player, I have no problem with that. If he agree to it.
This is more of this ZERO TOLERANCE BS! Ban him for a game, a week, a month, & that is one thing, Ban him FOR LIFE & this is major extremism, especially since some willingness to back down has been shown. Besides, who hasn’t tried this salute in mock dramatization at some time,even as a kid. Lets get real! We allow the Nazi-like tactics of Psychiatry to destroy lives & the general economy but one Nazi salute for one minute or less is given LIFE! You live in the land of BS and practically every commenter has fallen for their own BS or someone else’s on this blog so far!
As Frankly noted above, neo-nazism is on the rise in Greece, in the form of the “Golden Dawn” political party. They claim not to be fascists, yet they claim their “ideology” comes from Ioannis Metaxas, the Greek “leader” of a puppet fascist government controlled by Germany.
Anyone who lives in Greece and claims to be ignorant of what’s going on is either living in a cave or is a flat-out liar.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/feb/05/fears-germany-golden-dawn-greece German and Greek right wing extremists have been forging close contacts in Germany in order to establish a power base in Europe.
As Frankly said, maybe this should be reviewed down the road…
His apology:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/03/17/us-soccer-greece-aek-salute-idUSBRE92G06B20130317
Excerpt:
The 20-year-old, a former captain of Greece’s Under-19 team, made the gesture in celebrating his winning goal in a 2-1 Super League victory over lowly Veria on Saturday.
Katidis apologized and asked to be dropped from AEK’s first team.
“I would like to confess that I am totally unacceptable and I feel terrible for those I upset with the stupidity of my act,” Katidis said in a statement.
“I made the mistake so I will be the one to pay for it, AEK is not responsible. So that is why I have decided to put myself out of the team because I have now realized how much I have offended the history of the club.
“Also, I understand fully the reasons for the decision made by the Greek Football Federation to which I owe a huge apology as it has helped me to get where I am in the professional game.”
Katidis reiterated that he was not a fascist or racist.
“Unfortunately I cannot take the clock back but I want to clarify that I am not a fascist or neo-Nazi or racist. I have a step brother from Puerto Rico and all my family are from the Black Sea and have experienced racism in the worst ways,” he said.
‘COMPLETELY WRONG’
“There is no reason to look for excuses. I was completely wrong and I will pay for it with a lot of pain because despite being only 20 years old my career is now at risk.
“I sincerely apologize to my team mates and everyone involved with the club that I have insulted in not knowing exactly what I had done in my celebration. Nonetheless, the fact that I did not know what I was doing is no excuse,” Katidis added.
AEK have asked Katidis to explain himself and will decide his future at a board meeting next week.
He was heavily criticized by political parties and fans on Twitter and Facebook following the incident at the Athens Olympic Stadium. Sunday marks the 70th anniversary of Greek Jew deportations in Nazi concentration camps in the Second World War.
“The player’s action to salute to spectators in a Nazi manner is a severe provocation, insults all the victims of Nazi bestiality and injures the deeply pacifist and human character of the game,” the Greek federation (EPO) said in statement.
Super League president Giannis Moralis said his organization would consider possible sanctions against the player at next week’s executive board meeting.
Katidis initially denied he gave a Nazi salute, saying he was pointing at Michalis Pavlis in the stands to dedicate the goal to his team mate as he continues to fight health problems.
AEK’s German coach Ewald Lienen backed Katidis.
“He is a young kid who does not have any political ideas. He most likely saw such a salute on the Internet or somewhere else and did it without knowing what it means,” he said.
http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/greek-far-right-party-has-made-contact-with-bavarian-neo-nazis-a-881303.html Agree with Frankly.
He also removed his shirt immediately after scoring the goal which is a violation of FIFA rule 12. I would be curious to learn if his tatoos reveal other offensive slogans or messages. There is no way he did not know what he was doing. He’s a jerk and deserves to be banned.
So, if his fist had been closed, would that have been okay? How about if he had raised both arms in triumph? If I had just seen the video, without being told it was a Nazi salute, I would probably have missed it.
Just to be clear, it’s a correct decision.
Given the rise of the fascist movement in Greece at this time I would be very doubtful of his ignorance and rather unforgiving even if he really were. Maybe they could review the ban in a year or two but for now it has to be understood that the history of that action is not something we will forget or accept.
40 to 50 million civilians died and nearly 25 million military deaths; there is no excuse for ignorance on that history
Good decision.
If the team is a private entity they can set standards.
Thanks for asking the question, rafflaw.
From a legal standpoint, what if he had yelled “Heil Hitler”, instead of gesturing?
I agree that it was an offensive gesture, but why isn’t this a free speech issue?