It looks like you're using an Ad Blocker.
Please white-list or disable AboveTopSecret.com in your ad-blocking tool.
Thank you.
Some features of ATS will be disabled while you continue to use an ad-blocker.
Originally posted by Raist
reply to post by samkent
I am not trying to tell another country how to run (not that you said I did I just want to make it clear).
I mean we have racists here (the kkk and the black panthers and such). I ignore them they are fools.
This guy did not hurt anyone he made a gesture. So what if people saw it call him out on it make sure people know he is racist but a minority and leave it at that. Screw fools who worry anout race. If he is hurting people then do something. Other than that it is nothing more than feelings being hurt.
Raist
Originally posted by Tazkven
Ban them all! Ban them all to HELL!!
Wait, it was just the Bellamy salute ... our bad!
A group of schoolchildren performing the Bellamy salute, May 1942
The Nazi's didn't invent that, good lord who do we think they are, Apple? Maybe if we stopped bringing the "Nazis" up every time something reminds us of a "Nazi", which they adopted from earlier cultures, the symbolisms would return to their rightful place in history ... the older cultures.
Kind of makes one wonder in 50 or 100 years how this could be vilified ...
Did Giorgos Katidis know that he would be compared to the Nazi's? Most likely not, I mean he has a "Get Rich or Die Tryin'" tattoo below his navel. One can say he thinks it is stylish or he is a 50 cent fan.
My guess is he just thought it looked cool ...
Obviously, the guy behind him to his right knew what it meant and tried to pull his arm down.
My Call: Foolish Mistake.edit on 18-3-2013 by Tazkven because: (no reason given)
"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.
"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.
I will always salute as I did because it gives me a sense of belonging to my people...I saluted my people with what for me is a sign of belonging to a group that holds true values, values of civility against the standardization that this society imposes upon us."
Originally posted by Tazkven
Basically, what has happened here is some guy was tried and sentenced simply over making an arm gesture that has been used through out history with no proof it's meaning was even political.
The last guy who did it Paolo di Canio was fined and banned for one game and he fully admits to being a fascist and has never apologized.
I will always salute as I did because it gives me a sense of belonging to my people...I saluted my people with what for me is a sign of belonging to a group that holds true values, values of civility against the standardization that this society imposes upon us."
No, I'll give Giorgos Katidis the benefit of the doubt and call it a kid's foolish mistake until there is more solid proof. I believe doling out a "Nazi" style sentence with ZERO proof instead of giving him the "benefit of the doubt" kind of makes us all look like hypocrites anyways.
Originally posted by StudentType
reply to post by tdk84
Exactly - let's not forget this is a country that was invaded and occupied by fascist Italy and Germany in WWII, which is probably (judging by approximation) in living memory of his grandparents. Golden Dawn has 18 seats in parliament now and huge amounts of press coverage, no way he wouldn't have heard of them. I think this punishment sends a perfect message to Greek footballers but also to fans that fascism is not tolerable , and that you cannot represent Greece if you are a fascist.