Monday 14 June 2021
Update
“I fuck your mother”
Arnautovic freaks out – and insults racially?
Needed by David
Marko Arnautovic freaks out after his goal for Austria and harasses North Macedonian players. Racist insults are said to have been made, and a show of hands causes anger. Arnautovic denies allegations that UEFA is “not launching any investigation”.
Marko Arnautovic was never known as an approachable, polite professional. In the European Championship game against North Macedonia, the Austrian caused a stir once again. After his goal in the 89th minute to make it 3-1, he broke off his brief jubilation, turned to the players from North Macedonia and pestered them in an aggressive manner. Only the rushing captain David Alaba can boil him down again in a clear way, even tries to cover his mouth.
Serbian and Croatian media are now reporting that you can clearly see from Arnautovic’s lips that he called: “I fuck your shiptar motherUsers also want to have recognized the abuse on social media. The players of North Macedonia or UEFA have not yet confirmed this. In Serbian, Shiptar is a derogatory racist insult for Albanians.
Arnautovic was born and raised in Vienna, but his family is from Serbia and many relatives live there. As he once said himself: “There’s a Serb in me. “His alleged insults after the goal were directed specifically against Ezgjan Alioski, who plays for Leeds United and is of Albanian origin. Both players had already enjoyed a kind of private duel several times during the game Arnautovic and Alioski talked quietly in the field.
“Will never be a racist”
After his goal, Marko Arnautovic is pestering the North Macedonians – probably also with a show of hands.
(Photo: imago images / GEPA pictures)
The Austrian’s hand sign after his hit – thumb and forefinger brought together, the other fingers splayed – is understood in the Balkans as a non-verbal version of Arnautovic’s insults (albeit without the racist context). The gesture is also used worldwide (although not very widespread) by neo-Nazies as a symbol for “white power”. It is not known whether Arnautovic also knows about the latter meaning.
Arnautovic defended himself against the accusation of racist remarks the day after the game and wrote in an Instagram story: “I am not a racist and will never be a racist.” Nevertheless, he felt compelled to offer an apology: “It was a battle of words in the emotion, from both sides. That is simply not part of it, we have to delete it.” He wanted to apologize “especially to my friends from North Macedonia and Albania,” said Arnautovic: “I have friends in almost every country and I stand for diversity. Everyone who knows me knows that.” At the end of the story, the Austrian wrote the words “Më falni”, which means “sorry” in Albanian.
The ethnic conflict between Serbia and Albania has a long history and goes back to the Middle Ages. Today there is a particular dispute over Kosovo, which declared itself autonomous in 2008 and in which Albanians make up more than three quarters of the population. Serbia still does not recognize Kosovo as an independent country.
Arnautovic reiterated that his words after the goal had “absolutely nothing to do with politics. To all of the people who felt addressed: I’m sorry. Let’s forget all about it, it is not part of football.” At the 2018 World Cup in the group game between Serbia and Switzerland, the Swiss national players Xerdan Shaquiri and Granit Xhaka (both with Kosovar roots) celebrated their goals with the symbol of the Albanian double-headed eagle. At the time, they were fined by FIFA. The now responsible UEFA, however, “does not start any investigations into yesterday’s games,” as a UEFA spokesman said on SID’s request.
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