Team misses opportunity

Editorial

Even if one assumes the worst about 20-year-old midfielder Giorgos Katidis – though there is zero evidence that he is an antisemite or racist – is banning him for life from representing his country, Greece, in international soccer tournaments really an appropriate punishment?

Katidis claims he was unaware that the victory salute he gave upon scoring the winning goal in a game last Saturday (March 16) was Hitlerian. The still photos that have made Katidis famous around the world make it seem that Katidis stopped dead in his tracks, stood at attention and gave what looked like a Heil for a good amount of time. In reality, the incident took less than two seconds, and Katidis never stopped moving – though he didn’t bring down his arm until someone among the players and coaches that mobbed him in joy pulled it down.

The consequences came quick and hard. In handing out the ban, Greece’s soccer federation called Katidis’ action “a deep insult to all victims of Nazi brutality.” For his part, Katidis apologized and accepted full responsibility for the “stupidity” of the act. The eloquence and maturity of his response might belie his claim of ignorance, but it seems genuine. He tweeted after the incident: “I am not racist in any way. I abhor fascism. I would not have done it if I knew that it meant something. I know the consequences and would not do it ever.” He didn’t blame anyone but himself. In a statement, he said he understood the Greek soccer federation’s decision, and said, “I sincerely apologize to my teammates 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.”

AEK Athens’ coach, Ewald Lienen, supported Katidis, explaining that his player “most likely saw such a salute on the Internet or somewhere else and did it without knowing what it means.” (Speaking of racism, much has been made of the fact that Lienen is German.)

Lienen’s explanation actually may have some merit. Just two short weeks ago, we lamented in this space that awareness of the Holocaust is at shockingly low levels among the European population. Fascism is emerging in concerning ways in Greece, Hungary and elsewhere in Europe. In an article about the Katidis incident, the New York Times, citing Athens’ Kathimerini, noted, “Golden Dawn, the far-right party that entered Parliament last summer, has defended the Nazi salute, which has been performed in public by some of its MPs ... by claiming that it is an ancient Greek greeting.”

Sadly, the soccer world is no stranger to racism. Numerous examples have been given in the Katidis coverage, including when Italy’s Paolo Di Canio, in 2005, greeted his fans with what he called a “Roman salute.” He too denied the racism charge. He was punished with a one-game suspension, but allowed to continue his career.

Looking closer to home for our community, the 65-year-old Beitar Jerusalem soccer club has long made news for being the sole Israeli team not to have Arab players. Earlier this season, however, the team’s owner brought on two Chechen Muslims, midfielder Dzhabrail Kadiyev and striker Zaur Sadayev, two of just five non-Israeli players to ever represent the club. (In 2005, Nigerian player Ndala Ibrahim, a Muslim, was on the team briefly but left due to reported “hostility” from fans.)

After Sadayev and Kadiyev were brought on, nationalist fans unfurled banners reading “Beitar Pure Forever,” among other anti-Muslim banners, and anti-Arab chants competed with cheers throughout the stadium. Earlier this month, boos could be heard every time 23-year-old Sadayev got the ball against Maccabi Netanya. When he scored his first goal – the first-ever Beitar goal scored by a Muslim player – most fans rose in a standing ovation. Several hundred, however, walked out. When asked about their reaction, young fans spoke to reporters: one 19-year-old told the British Independent, “The reaction to the Muslim players being here is not racist. But the club’s existence is under threat. Beitar is a symbol for the whole country.” Another fan agreed: “It’s not racism, they just shouldn’t be here. Beitar Jerusalem has always been a clean club, but now it’s being destroyed – many of the other players are thinking of leaving because of the Muslim players being here.”

Israelis seem to be starting to realize the extent of Beitar’s errant fans. When an arson attack took place last month on Beitar Jerusalem’s offices – thought to be linked to fans who oppose having a Muslim player represent their club – four arrests followed, and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu called the attack “shameful” and “racist.” Israeli police and stadium security have responded as well, by ejecting racist fans and arresting some on suspicion of incitement. Members of the vocal right-wing fan group have been told to stay away. Beitar assistant coach Jan Talesnikov and league spokesman Amir Ephrat have made it clear that racists have no place in the Beitar family.

Racism in soccer is a big enough problem that last year the AP reported that a “British parliamentary committee announced it would investigate racism in sports following a number of high-profile cases. Racism cases involving players and fans are being dealt with in France, Bulgaria and Spain as well.”

Even if Katidis is lying about his knowledge of the Nazi salute – and there is no proof that he is at this point – banning him for life is the wrong reaction. Condemnation, definitely. But the ban lets the rest of us – the rest of Greece, the rest of the soccer world – off the hook. It says, “We’ve dealt with this. We’re done.” There is so much more to do, however, as is apparent when you put Katidis’ action in the context of the country in which he was born and raised, and his chosen profession.

Racism doesn’t happen in a vacuum and it isn’t something that one can simply ban. There is an obvious problem with antisemitism and racism not only in Greece and in soccer, but on a much larger and more worrying scale than one young soccer player giving a Nazi salute. Banning cannot be allowed to take the place of societal reflection, because racism is not only an individual’s problem, it is society’s problem, especially when it reflects a broader social movement as it seems to in Greece and elsewhere.

What should alarm us most about this incident is the idea that a young man was so poorly educated that he did not know the meaning of this salute. If this is the case – and it seems reasonable to assume it is – then Katidis is not a deserving of scorn, but of pity.

In his statements to the press, Katidis also said, “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.”

While Katidis can’t turn back the clock, he could still serve to move the conversation about racism and antisemitism forward. However, the Greek soccer team has missed an opportunity to take a principal role – with a contrite Katidis in the lead – in educating some of the estimated three billion soccer fans around the world about the Holocaust and about the everyday examples of antisemitism, racism, prejudice and discrimination in their midst.

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