Greek Soccer Player Banned from Playing for Life; Due to His Nazi Salute When His Goal Won Game

A Greek soccer player has been banned for life from playing for the national team, after giving the Nazi salute during a game, the Jewish Press website reports today (March 18, 2013).

Giorgos Katidis, 20, who plays for the AEK Athens team, gave the salute after scoring the winning goal in a match on March 15 -- the same day Greek Jews marked the 70th anniversary of the deportation of the Thessaloniki Jewish community to Auschwitz.

The Greek soccer federation on March 17 barred Katidis from playing for the national team for life, saying that the Nazi salute was a "severe provocation" and an insult to "all the victims of Nazi barbarity."

In recent months, Greece has seen an upsurge in such incidents with the rise of the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn Party, whose members and leaders often give the salutes and employ other Nazi imagery. Speaking at a ceremony yesterday to mark the deportation of the Thessaloniki Jews, Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras vowed to take a harsher stance against neo-Nazis and racists.