Player of AEK Football Club Giorgos Katidis raised his hand in Nazi salute inside the football stadium after scoring a goal. The moment he raised his hand in a very obvious Nazi salute, members of AEK technical team fell over him, most probably to hide the insident.
Video:
Ο χαιρετισμός του Γιώργου Κατίδη! από kokoretsi
The salute triggered an outrage on social media in Facebook and Twitter, with Greek athletes and even AEK fans to condemn him and demanding his expulsion from the premier league Football Club.
Giorgos Katidis, 20, justified the raising of his hand saying, he raised his hand to dedicate the goal to a friend. In his Twitter account he wrote that he hated fascism.
On Sunday, ORIGINAL 21, the biggest club of organized AEK fans, issued a harsh statement demanding from AEK FC to fire KAtidis.
UPDATE: Greek Football Federation (EPO) decided Katidis’ lifetime exclusion from all Greek national teams “because his Nazi salute violently insults the public sentiment, all the victims of Nazi atrocities and violates the peaceful spirit of football.” EPO held an extraordinary meeting on Sunday morning.
Now it’s high time, that AEK takes a decision…
UPDATE2: On Sunday even and after the ongoing outcry, Giorgos Katidis set himself outside AEK. In a statement, he apologized and said among others:
“I must admit that I am totally unacceptable and I feel terrible for causing a challenge with my irrelevant and stupid action. … There is no reason to look for excuses. I’m wrong. “
Right after the match and his Nazi salute, Katidis told cable Nova Sport TV, that he had arranged to do such a salute with his co-players. ” We wanted the fans to cheer, so we thought to make such gesture like we hear from this party [note: neonazi Golden Dawn].”
Nevertheless after the outrage, no co-player dared confirm that the Nazi salute was pre-arranged.
An AEK decision is still due as angry fans demanded Katidis expulsion and that his contract is cancelled.
PS Probably Katidis was thinking he was in an event of the Nazi youth…
Look at the position of the thumb. Its clearly not a nazi salute.
Na absolutely true!!! … No kin to the so-called «Saluto Romano», or «Deutscher Grub», or «Hitlergrub». Not – even – in accordance with PM Ioannis Metaxas’ Directive of 1937, dictating that all 5 fingers should be stuck together and facing towards East (saluting the dawn or Golden Dawn I have no idea, any insight?)… and as the pilots’ say: “East is least (*) and West is best” (long live the Western Civilization)… hahaha!
*) thus the «jet lag» we experience when flying against the Sun’s route (i.e. from East to West while crossing Meridians) and that is why track & field athletes are always running … counterclockwise … ole!
First of all, it is a lie fans want him out, except far-left side fans and not of the AEK team.
Secondly, it has to be known, that this is NOT a NAZI but a ancient DORIAN salute! That later was adopted by ROMANS! Should we ban every movie that has the ”Ave Caesar…” and that salute? Also it was Greece’s official military salute at the WW II when we said the NO to the Nazis! People have to understand, that Greece, more than everyone, has the RIGHT to use their OWN salute! Even if it was adopted also by the Nazis, did it stop of being a traditional National Greek, or the one that millitary was using when they fought against the Nazis?
But even if it would be, where is the DEMOCRACY for the free will? Shame on the democracy that died…
LOL never heard this before: “Also it was Greece’s official military salute at the WW II when we said the NO to the Nazis!” – wonder how the nazis did understood Greeks’ No when they (the nazis) used the gesture to say Yes.
Oh God, here we go again. NOBODY owns a “gesture”, no matter how you try to turn such a ridiculous contention into “history fact”. Gestures are used to convey meaning and intent, and many gestures are universal, but with opposite meaning and intent. Many peoples nod their heads in what we would take to mean “Yes”, while they do in fact mean “No”. Meaning and intent can also change over time.
It is not even the suggested ownership of the gesture that is in question, it is the universally accepted meaning and intent behind it. And thus we are talking 21st century meaning and intent, not Ancient Dorian or Roman history and intent.
The 21st century intent behind this gesture is a horrible insult to 60 million people who died because of the 20th century meaning of the gesture. That is why this is an unacceptable gesture, no matter how much fantasy history you create to justify the unjustifiable and defend the indefensable…
weird. while Katidis claimed he didn’t know what this gesutre meant, he support by …guess who lol
Just read he describes himself as “ignorant on these matters”…
Plain ignorant would have done. And that’s being nice to him.
How can anybody claim not to know what this means or conveys?
20: eligible to vote (but no idea about politics)
more or less like the olympics athlete and her racist joke
Which just goes to show that there is something to be said in favour of teaching young people the basics of social awareness and political thinking, if such a thing exists. Most politicians prove it doesn’t…
More or less like most of the voters who literally keep voting a political party because their parents did.
And for the same reason, indeed. The latest opinion poll in Ireland puts the political party that ruined that country and sold it out to the banks, in very much the same way that Cyprus seems to be led to the slaughter right now, back in as the largest, most popular party in the country…
«Ignorance is bliss» (wrote good old Thomas Gray, 1716 – 1771) or else … «Salut-moi le platan et attend Nicolo» (no kin to Nicolò Paganini, 1782 – 1840). Who really cares – that much! – about the poor Greek Super League-da’s (aka G.R.I.M.E.) heavily tattooed soccer players’ silly actions, if poor old hungry people – out there in the troika jungle – get their 0% oleic acid «oil drops» – absolutely free – from the garbage? Let’s get serious!
@ Nicolas, the severity of this lies not so much in the specific idiotic action of this ignoramus, but in the fact the people like him, because of their sporting “hero” status, are role models to our children.
Whether he plays for AEK Athens or Real Madrid makes no difference. He is an influence on young people, how many is irrelevant. His problem is obvious, the bigger problem is that clubs who field these guys should, but don’t, take the responsibility of educating these guys in the dangers and advantages of the influence they have on young supporters.
The long term damage done to the views young people pick up from these shenanigans is indeed very damaging, as damaging as the long term poverty inflicted by the hooligans in suits…
This man say not a nazi salute, but if walks like duck, smell like duck, must be duck. I think best not to make salute that look similar to Nazi. Why to confuse people to think it is. I agree with elephant comment above.