"Can You See the Ball with Small Eyes?"... Greek Commentator Who Insulted Player Jeong Young-sik 'Dismissed'

On the 27th, Jeong Yeong-sik, who participated in the men's singles third round of the table tennis preliminary round, is celebrating after defeating Panagiotis from Greece. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Seohyun] A Greek sports commentator who made a racist remark during the broadcast of the men's singles table tennis match between Korea and Greece at the Tokyo Olympics, saying to player Jeong Yeongsik, "It's hard to understand how you can see the ball going back and forth with those small eyes," has been dismissed.

On the 27th (local time), the Associated Press (AP) reported, citing local media, that the Greek state broadcaster ERT Television terminated its broadcasting contract with journalist-turned-commentator Dimosthenis Karmoyris, who made the racist remark during the commentary of the match.

The problematic remark came immediately after Jeong Yeongsik secured a comeback victory over Greece's Panagiotis Gionis with a 4-3 score, advancing to the round of 16. When the caster asked Karmoyris to evaluate the Korean player's skills, he referred to the "small eyes" in question.

This sparked controversy as it was pointed out to be a form of mockery similar to the so-called "eye slanting," a derogatory gesture by Westerners toward East Asians' appearance. Following the remark, numerous critical posts about Karmoyris appeared on local social media platforms.

ERT issued a statement a few hours later, saying, "There is no place for racist remarks on public broadcasting," and announced, "Our collaboration with Karmoyris has ended as of today."

Meanwhile, according to dpa news agency, Karmoyris was previously criticized on the 26th for saying, after a Greek athlete performed below expectations in a shooting event, "He completely ruined the game."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.