By Andrew Warshaw in Doha
March 19 – The Greek footballer who made a Nazi gesture after scoring a goal at the weekend has come under fresh condemnation – this time from a leading United Nations adviser.
After saluting his fans with the fascist sign, AEK Athens midfielder Giorgos Katidis, former captain of Greece’s under-19 team, was immediately banned by his national federation and has now found himself denounced by Wilfried Lemke (pictured), special U.N. adviser on Sport for development and peace.
“I was really shocked when I saw this,” said Lemke when addressing the first day of the two-day Securing Sport 2013 conference in Doha. “He was totally stupid to do this.”
Katidis pleaded he didn’t know what the symbol meant and Lemke used this to illustrate the need for better education.
“Obviously it’s a question of bad education and now he is being punished by his football association. This is something we have to teach our children – what happened in history and precisely why we should fight against such movements in all our societies. Education is the most important thing and sport is part of it,” said Lemke.
Earlier Mohammed Hanzab, president of the ICSS, reviewed the short history of the organisation and said that despite its young age, it was growing in credibility.
“We have grown from being an idea to a reality made by 40 fulltime staff from different nations, 10 Directors from different sectors, our Advisory Board, our network of experts,” Hanzab said in his opening address. “Our team of experts has contributed to the safety and security of several events such as UEFA EURO 2012, the UEFA Champions League and IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship.”
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