Another Olympian Expelled for Racist Tweet

Olympics football: Michel Morganella expelled for racist tweet

Switzerland's Olympic football team has expelled defender Michel Morganella from the tournament for posting racist comments on Twitter.

An offensive message aimed at South Korean people was posted from his Twitter account after Switzerland lost 2-1 to the Koreans on Sunday.

The account has since been deleted and he has apologised.

"I made a huge mistake after a disappointing result," said the 23-year-old.
Morganella added: "I wish to apologise to the people in South Korea and their team, but also to the Swiss delegation and Swiss football in general."

Earlier this month, Greek triple jumper Paraskevi Papachristou was expelled from her country's Olympic team over comments she posted on Twitter which were deemed racist.
She later apologised for the "unfortunate and tasteless joke".

Switzerland head coach Gian Gilli said Morganella, who plays his club football for Palermo in Italy, had let the team down.

"He discriminated, insulted and violated the dignity of the South Korean football team and people," he said.

Morganella, who has one senior cap for Switzerland, has started both Group B games for his country.

The Swiss, who have taken just one point from six, round off their group campaign against Mexico at the Millennium Stadium on Tuesday.

BBC Sport - Olympics football: Michel Morganella expelled for racist tweet


The tweet:



The tweet is difficult to translate, as it is written in a rough mix of French and textspeak, but he tells all Koreans to “burn yourselves,” calling them a “bunch of ‘tards.”

A facebook commenter says: I'm french and it's a mix of french: what we call "Verlan" (l'anvers=speaking with an inversion of a part of the word), it means "I !! every Korean, Go burn yourself" I'm not sure of the last sentence, but it might means something like "bunch of batards" yes.
This guy is dumb but he defenetly tried to make it hard to understand his sentence!

Stop Me If You’ve Heard This One Before: Olympic Athlete Kicked Out Of Games For Tweet | TechCrunch

dumbass

damn this nicca was salty as !!

Dumbass nicca [pic]

maybe i need to re-read the post. how is it racist to call some one a retard? (not saying he shouldnt be expelled) i just dont see the racism

[pic]

i agree where is the racism tho?

[pic] is a burning a reference to protest by self-immolation? just asking a question

They were having difficulty trying to translate his messed up French, but it basically seems like he was trying to say "!! all of the Koreans, go burn yourselves you bastards (or retards)."

You don't think that sounds racist to tell a whole ethnic group a bunch of bastards, to !! off and go burn themselves?

Either way its definitely much worse than what the Greek chick tweeted that got her kicked out.

One of the comments on the article said it best, that these athletes need to realize that they are essentially acting as diplomats and representatives for their countries on an international stage. When you're a member of a national team and you tell another ethnic group to go k!ll themselves it makes your whole country look bad. Athletes might be able to get away with posting a lot of !! while playing for their domestic club teams but you can't say that !! when you're supposed to be trying to help spread international goodwill and understanding as a representative of your country.

thought he was safe [pic]

White people are going to do what white people do. They conduct in the degradation and denigration of people based on people's race, color, or religion. [pic]

you idiots amuse me. Criticize the "white man" for being racist while generalizing a whole race yourself.

i guess i took it as he meant !! korea because they just got done playing them, not !! every single korean. i dont really look at koreans as a race. but either way !! him. im cool with him getting the boot

This is why I love social networking sites. It exposes idiots who think they can have privacy on the internet. [pic]

Wow this is embarrassing... All those yrs of work gon to !! over a tweet [pic]

What he said translates to:

"I'm going to beat up every Korean. Go on, burn yourselves! Bunch of mongoloids."