Nazi salute ?

Sunnyisland

A Greek footballer has been banned for life from playing for the national team after making a Nazi salute.

AEK Athens midfielder Giorgos Katidis, 20, made the gesture to celebrate his winning goal during a Saturday match.

The Greek football federation called it "a severe provocation" that insulted "all the victims of Nazi bestiality".

Katidis denied he gave a Nazi salute. "I am not a fascist and would not have done it if I had known what it meant," Katidis said on his Twitter account.

The player - a former captain of Greece's under-19 team - was fiercely criticised on social media for the salute after scoring the winner in AEK's 2-1 victory over Veria in the Olympic stadium on Saturday.

He insisted he was simply pointing at a team mate in the stands.

The club have asked him to explain himself at a board meeting next week.

But AEK's German coach Ewald Lienen has 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, according to Reuters news agency.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-21822165


Maybe this should be in the soccer thread ? but I was wondering what is the great After Hours opinion on this, Do you think that nearly 70 years after the end of WW2 that you can still be sacked for giving the nazi salute, even in jest ? Is this right or should we just get on with it and treat it as a fawlty towers type joke. My own opinion is that we should never forget what nazism was all about and what this salute actually meant,but then I am in my fifties and opinions do change. So...

Grayson

Who doesn't know what a nazi salute looks like?

FloatingVoter

Depends on the context in which the salute is given. Some dimwit footballer giving it probably just needs a couple of hours with the History Channel to put him right. A politician giving it in any capacity deserves a jail term.

Gummy Panda

Nazis stole the salute from the Romans

Pushtrak

FloatingVoter wrote: »

Depends on the context in which the salute is given. Some dimwit footballer giving it probably just needs a couple of hours with the History Channel to put him right. A politician giving it in any capacity deserves a jail term.

If he needed to hear about ancient alien theories, you'd be right.

Czarcasm

Media shìtstorm in a twitter sized teacup tbh.

I'm not saying we should ever forget history either, but this kind of drivel makes it meaningless.

The Aussie

realies wrote: »

"Nazi bestiality"...

HeHeHeHe


Link please

Ilik Urgee

Ah shur he's a gas man!

Simon Gruber Says

realies wrote: »

"all the victims of Nazi bestiality"

Had to read that part twice. :rolleyes:

c_man

Pushtrak wrote: »

If he needed to hear about ancient alien theories, you'd be right.

Did ancient man begin to give the salute because of observing national socialist visitors from another planet? This professor from Ohio thinks so...

m5ex9oqjawdg2i

FloatingVoter wrote: »

Depends on the context in which the salute is given. Some dimwit footballer giving it probably just needs a couple of hours with the History Channel to put him right. A politician giving it in any capacity deserves a jail term.

Wow... really?

mike65

I bet it was not even the proper camp salute.

o1s1n

Hey now, if the Germans can do this at the olympics...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVraGDOaoNg

Wibbs

FloatingVoter wrote: »

Depends on the context in which the salute is given. Some dimwit footballer giving it probably just needs a couple of hours with the History Channel to put him right.

Agreed.

A politician giving it in any capacity deserves a jail term.

Not agreed. Crazy overreaction. Laughing at them would serve a far better purpose, gaoling them would be beyond daft. It could even increase their popularity. I mean they gaoled oul Adolf and in many ways it was the making of him and his nutty party. Making anything a sacred cow is to be avoided. IT tends to make it more attractive.

Gummy Panda wrote: »

Nazis stole the salute from the Romans

Not really. There's no clear idea of what a Roman salute was. What we think it was and what the Nazis nicked was actually a made up salute in a few 18th century paintings. Hollywood added to it.

Siuin

Grayson wrote: »

Who doesn't know what a nazi salute looks like?

It's all Greek to him :P




On a more serious note: it was a very ignorant thing for him to do and tbh I don't even know why his age is being used as a mitigating factor. 20 years old is more than old enough to understand firstly what a Nazi salute looks like and secondly that it's a pretty shít idea to do it publicly in front of a load of spectators. Idiot.

Legs.Eleven

With the massive rise in popularity of the facist Golden Dawn party, I'm not buying his declarations of ignorance :rolleyes: It's hardly an uncommon sight over there right now.

mikemac1

It's not a Nazi salute

Drive down a country road during silage season and the farmers will give you that salute

Grayson

Wibbs wrote: »

Agreed. Not agreed. Crazy overreaction. Laughing at them would serve a far better purpose, gaoling them would be beyond daft. It could even increase their popularity. I mean they gaoled oul Adolf and in many ways it was the making of him and his nutty party. Making anything a sacred cow is to be avoided. IT tends to make it more attractive.

How about a mandatory trip to Auschwitz where they can explain why the nazi's weren't all bad.

furiousox

Grayson wrote: »

Who doesn't know what a nazi salute looks like?

Bob Holness?

Jackobyte

Seems a bit ridiculous tbh.

Nodin

Jackobyte wrote: »

Seems a bit ridiculous tbh.

"simply pointing at a team mate in the stands" me big hairy arse.

Life ban is ott though.