Greek soccer player banned for life for nazi salute...

Giorgos Katidis, a 20-year-old Greek soccer player who celebrated a game-winning goal on Saturday by giving a Nazi salute to fans in Athens, has been banned for life from representing his country in international tournaments.

The Hellenic Football Federation met Sunday in response to the incident the night before and decided to ban the player who has previously captained the national team in youth competitions. “The player’s action to salute to spectators in a Nazi manner is a severe provocation, insults all the victims of Nazi barbarity and injures the deeply pacifist and human character of the game,” the federation said as Greece marked the 70th anniversary of the deportation of thousands of Greek Jews to Nazi death camps.

Katidis, who initially claimed that he was not saluting but pointing at a friend in the stands, said later that he had no idea what the gesture meant. In an apology issued after the ban, he called his salute, “totally unacceptable,” adding, “I feel terrible for those I upset with the stupidity of my act.” Full story...

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