July 30, 2021, 04:38 AM
A veteran Greek sports commentator Dimosthenis Karmiris has been fired after saying a South Korean Olympian's "eyes are narrow".
Karmiris reportedly made the racist comments after Jeoung Young-sik’s table tennis singles victory over Greece’s Panagiotis Gionis at the Tokyo Olympics.
The national broadcaster that hired Karmiris, ERT television, has since fired him for his racist remarks.
How it happened
Karmiris was reportedly appearing as a guest on ERT when the incident took place, as per The Sun.
He was providing analysis on Greek player Gionis's defeat to South Korean Jeoung in the men's singles third round on July 27.
When he was asked about the skill of South Korean table tennis players, he proceeded to make his uncalled for comments.
"The Koreans don't play table tennis. Their eyes are narrow so I can't understand how they can see the ball moving back and forth," Kamiris replied, while making hand gestures and laughing.
Yunan devlet kanalı ERT'nin 36 yıllık spikeri Dimosthenis Karmiris, Panagiotis Gionis'i eleyen Güney Koreli Jeoung Young-sik'e sarf ettiği ırkçı sözlerin ardından emekliliğe adım attı
— Sargın Tekşal (@sarginteksal) July 28, 2021
"Çekik gözleriyle o topun gidip geldiğini nasıl görüyorlar anlamıyorum"pic.twitter.com/HTLNw3Ct6W
Viewers were baffled at his comments and over on Twitter, a user commented, "It's 2021 and this is how a presenter on Greek state broadcaster @ertofficial comments on Asian table tennis players."
Jeoung beat Gionis 7-11, 11-7, 8-11, 10-12, 12-10, 11-6, 14-12.
The aftermath
Several hours after the incident, ERT released a statement saying, "Racist comments have no place on public television", as per HuffPost.
In the statement, the Greek national broadcaster also severed ties with Karmiris.
The statement said: "The collaboration between ERT and Dimosthenis Karmiris was terminated today, immediately after the morning show".
Karmiris recently made controversial comment on Greek shooter
According to the news blogger Keep Talking Greece, Karmiris had recently made a controversial comment about Greek shooter Anna Korakaki's performance at the Tokyo Olympics.
He allegedly said "She screw(ed) it up", after the former Olympic gold medal shooter ranked six in the 10m air rifle finals.
This drew angry comments from Korakaki's brother, Dionysus who is also competing in the men's air rifle competition at Tokyo.
He reportedly said Karmiris's comments "devalued" the success that Anna and other Greek athletes could bring to Greece, as per News Beezer.
Karmiris later apologised, saying he did not intend to "upset" Korakaki and her family, and merely made that comment due to high expectations from the shooter.
Top image via @darenarceo/Twitter & screenshot from @sarginteksal's video/Twitter
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