Greek broadcaster fired for racist comments on South Korean Olympic table tennis player

A state-owned television broadcaster for Greece has fired a sports commentator who mocked South Korean Olympic athletes while on air.

No place on public television: The Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ΕRΤ), which hired Dimosthenis Karmiris as a guest commentator, announced Tuesday that it is ending its collaboration with the veteran journalist, NBC reports.

Karmiris reportedly berated South Korean athletes with racial slurs on July 27 after Jeoung Young-sik defeated Panagiotis Gionis in men’s table tennis.
Commenting on table tennis players from South Korea, Karmiris said, “Their eyes are narrow so I can’t understand how they can see the ball moving back and forth.”
ERT posted a statement on their website hours later: “Racist comments have no place on public television. The collaboration between ERT and Dimosthenis Karmiris was terminated today, immediately after the morning show.”

While Jeoung defeated Gionis, all South Korean table tennis players failed to reach the semifinals of any singles or doubles events at the Tokyo Olympics. Finishing the Tokyo Games empty-handed, the table tennis squad suffered a drought of Olympic medals in individual events for four tournaments in a row, according to Yonhap News.

Featured Image via ΚΑΘΑΡΟΣ ΟΥΡΑΝΟΣ (left), Rational Table Tennis Analysis (right)

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