‘Don’t Blow This Out of Proportion,’ Serbian Volleyball Team Says After Player Pulls Slant-Eye Gesture

The Volleyball Federation of Serbia officially apologized to the Thailand volleyball team after one of the Serbian players pulled a slant-eye gesture while on the court.

What happened: The racist gesture happened during the match between Thailand and Serbia for the Volleyball Women’s Nations League 2021 in Rimini, Italy, Coconuts Bangkok reported.

Serbian player Sanja Djurdjevic was talking to her teammate when she pulled the racist gesture.
Serbia won the match with a 0-3 score.

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The incident went viral on social media, with a TikTok video showing that this wasn’t the first time the team made the racist gesture.
In 2017, the team made the gesture while posing for a photo, after they won the European championships, which landed them a spot in World Championships in Japan.

The apology: The Volleyball Federation of Serbia apologized to the Thailand volleyball team on Tuesday.

In the statement, the federation said Djurdjevic “immediately apologized to the whole Thailand team.”
“She only wanted to show her teammates ‘let’s start playing defense like them now,’” the statement said, adding “she didn’t mean any disrespect.”
The Volleyball Federation of Serbia asked the public not to “blow this out of proportion,” describing the incident as “unfortunate” and “a simple misunderstanding.”

Other details: Thai player Pleumjit Thinkaow, who was reportedly the target of the gesture during the match, posted a video on Instagram accepting the Serbian player’s apology on Tuesday.

“Everyone. [Djurdjevic] walked to our room. She said she was so stressed. She said she didn’t have the intention [to offend us]. Please forgive her,” Pleumjit wrote, Fox Sports Australia reported.

Featured Image via @foxblucasx

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