Greek soccer player gets life ban for Nazi salute

AEK Athens midfielder Giorgos Katidis raises his hand in a Nazi style salute, as his teammate Roger Guerreiro looks on, as he celebrates scoring the winning goal in a Greek league game against Veria in Athens' Olympic Stadium, Saturday, March 16, 2013. / AP Photo/INTIME

ATHENS, Greece AEK Athens midfielder Giorgos Katidis has been banned from any Greek national team for life after giving a Nazi salute while celebrating a goal in the Greek league.

Greece's football federation said Sunday in a statement that the player's gesture "is a deep insult to all victims of Nazi brutality."

The 20-year-old Katidis gave a Nazi salute after scoring the winner in AEK's 2-1 victory over Veria on Saturday. His action provoked an immediate and overwhelmingly negative response on social media. Katidis apologized on TV and Twitter, pleading ignorance about the meaning of the salute.

"I am not racist in any way," Katidis said on his Twitter account, according to a Google translation.

AEK and the Greek league are also considering separate sanctions. AEK could also be penalized.

Hardcore AEK fans have issued a statement demanding Katidis' dismissal from the team.

Katidis has played for Greek junior teams.

[GregariousKatidis]

It was probably just a misunderstanding.

[netjunkie1]

The fact the soccer player was banned for this tells me the Greeks are a bit, over-reactive.
He was simply saluting the crowd. Who says the NAZIS ever trademarked goosestepping and saluting?
It is all so ridiculous.

[No_Supremacy]

Replying to: neinzionist "Is stalking other people who post sourced information a good paying career???"

Since when are there sissy-boys amongst the Nazis and Ku Klux Klansmen? neinzionist, you are not being stalked; you are simply not being allowed to hide the purpose behind all your posts under the the far too many CBSnews usernames you have used, including but not limited to 'sourcesplease', 'GOP-Economic-Terror', 'chucksixsixsix', 'loveamericab4zion', 'RonnieRaygun', 'Chuckthezionist', 'historicalaccuracy1' , 'badkabbala', 'zionistwarcrimes', 'ninecensorship', 'kabbalabad', 'Americab4Party', 'nopartyline', 'neincensorship', 'krazykabbalist', 'Sources4Me', 'spinnerandwinner', 'BishopRobme', 'ZionistCensorship', 'USAB4Zionism', 'USAvsZionism', 'JewsAgainstZionism', 'nocults', 'AnyonebutRomney', 'RomneytheMexican', 'mormonbishop', 'mormoncult', 'factsasrebuttal', 'factual_rebuttal', 'savetheninetyninepercent', 'willard_romney', 'BishopRomney', 'GoogleMormonism', 'FauxNoozLies', 'NoMoreCons', 'AmericaBeforeCults', 'FauxNoozLies', 'sourcedfacts', 'ChristianTaliban', 'GOPterror', 'GOPeconomicterror', 'economicterror', et. al.

Aaah, so many lies .. so many cancelled user credentials. Care to enlighten the audience as to why you comment on individual stories under multiple user names? Care to enlighten the audience as to why CBSnews's staff keeps booting you off their web site?

If your answer includes anything about AIPAC, the Mossad, hasbra, or other such fearful notions of inferiority with respect to Jews, I encourage you to think a little more deeply about your response .. none of those apply.

[cnet30127]

If anything he should be suspended for the ridiculous "inking" he's done all over his body.

That being said, what he did was very insensitive to a large swath of people and was wrong, and he should be suspended for it. Banned for life? I'm not sure that's appropriate. It's a shame people can commit felonies here in the U.S. and still manage to play on teams again, but then someone overseas is banned for life for something less. Again, not saying he shouldn't be punished for it, though.

[podboq]

Funny, the 'Nazi Salute' was given by school children to the US flag at one point...

[icuping]

A little over-reaction I think...

[Jared581]

I wish that guy next to him kicked him square in the balls. That should be a global law: Nazi salute = justified kick to the groin, imo of course.

[sweetbobby]

Two black US Olympic athletes were kicked off the US Olympic team for giving the so-called black-power clenched-fist salute. Back in the US even black people turned against them.

[ugleyme]

They were interviewed many years later and stated that it "was a stupid thing to do." Sometimes youth gets in the way of logic. Life is learning.

[Aussie_convict]

The protestOn the morning of 16 October 1968, U.S.A. athlete Tommie Smith won the 200 metre race with a world-record time of 19.83 seconds. Australia's Peter Norman finished second with a time of 20.06 seconds, and the U.S.A's John Carlos won third place with a time of 20.10 seconds. After the race was completed, the three went to the podium for their medals to be presented by David Cecil, 6th Marquess of Exeter. The two U.S. athletes received their medals shoeless, but wearing black socks, to represent black poverty. Smith wore a black scarf around his neck to represent black pride, Carlos had his tracksuit top unzipped to show solidarity with all blue collar workers in the U.S. and wore a necklace of beads which he described "were for those individuals that were lynched, or killed and that no-one said a prayer for, that were hung and tarred. It was for those thrown off the side of the boats in the middle passage." All three athletes wore Olympic Project for Human Rights (OPHR) badges after Norman, a critic of Australia's White Australia Policy, expressed empathy with their ideals. Sociologist Harry Edwards, the founder of the OPHR, had urged black athletes to boycott the games; reportedly, the actions of Smith and Carlos on 16 October 1968 were inspired by Edwards' arguments.

Both U.S. athletes intended on bringing black gloves to the event, but Carlos forgot his, leaving them in the Olympic Village. It was the Australian, Peter Norman, who suggested Carlos wear Smith's left-handed glove. For this reason, Carlos raised his left hand as opposed to his right, differing from the traditional Black Power salute. When "The Star-Spangled Banner" played, Smith and Carlos delivered the salute with heads bowed, a gesture which became front page news around the world. As they left the podium they were booed by the crowd. Smith later said, "If I win, I am American, not a black American. But if I did something bad, then they would say I am a Negro. We are black and we are proud of being black. Black America will understand what we did tonight."

[rwsmith29456]

20 years old? He probably DOESN'T know what it means. The world seems more intent on forgetting or denying history rather than learning from it.

[No_Supremacy]

sourcesplease is a self proclaimed Nazi and propagandist for the Ku Klux Klan. Those are not my accusation, they are his words offered unsolicited and unprovoked.

[cite; USAB4Zionism July 20, 2012 8:22 AM EDT @http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57475663/bulgaria-bus-bombers-id-remains-a-mystery/]