Greek Soccer Player Giorgos Katidis Gets Lifetime National Team Ban

...claimed he was merely pointing to an injured teammate in the crowd.

Greek soccer player Giorgos Katidis has been slapped with a lifetime national team ban after celebrating a goal for AEK Athens by giving a Nazi salute.

Calling Katidis' actions a "deep insult to all victims of Nazi brutality," Greece's soccer federation put an immediate end to the player's international career, The Associated Press reported.

Images of Katidis - right arm fully extended with palm down - making the hateful gesture after netting his team's 2-1 winner against Veria quickly went viral on Saturday - the same day Greece marked the 70th anniversary of the beginning of the deportation of its country’s Jews to Nazi extermination camps during World War II.

Facing increasing backlash, the 20-year-old midfielder said he was unaware of the symbolism behind his salute and claimed he was merely pointing to an injured teammate in the crowd.

"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," Katidis said on Twitter.

AEK Athens coach Ewald Lienen also came to Katidis' defense, insisting that the player is guilty of nothing more than ignorance. “He is a young kid who does not have any political ideas. He most likely saw such a salute on the Internet or somewhere else and did it without knowing what it means," the German manager said.

Source: NY Daily News