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TOKYO (AP) A German cycling official has been suspended and will be sent home after the Tokyo Olympics after using a racist insult during the men’s time trial.
The sports director of the German Cycling Federation, Patrick Moster, supervised the cycling team at the Tokyo Games. He used the insult while urging German rider Nikias Arndt to catch up with riders from the African nations of Algeria and Eritrea in Wednesday’s time trial. He was heard on television and widely condemned in Germany.
Moster then apologized and the German team initially said he would stay in Tokyo, but said on Thursday he would be sent home.
German Olympic committee chairman Alfons Hrmann said he viewed Mosters’ apology as sincere, but violated Olympic values.
Hrmann added that fair play, respect and tolerance … are not negotiable for the German team.
The International Olympic Committee, whose president Thomas Bach is German, welcomed the decision to send Moster home and said it had inquired about the issue with the German squad before the decision was announced.
We welcome the quick reaction of the (German Olympic Committee) not to let him continue in his role and to ask him to leave Tokyo to return to Germany. Such comments have no place at the Olympics, said the IOC.
The International Cycling Union later said it had provisionally suspended Moster before a full hearing.
The UCI disciplinary commission urgently examined the matter and found that Mr. Mosters’ comments were discriminatory and contrary to elementary rules of decency, the UCI said. The UCI condemns all forms of racist and discriminatory behavior and strives to ensure integrity, diversity and equality in cycling.
Algerian runner Azzedine Lagab told German media Der Spiegel he had not received a personal apology from Moster or the German team. Lagab added that he had faced racist comments on several occasions during his career.
Arndt condemned the officials’ comments.
I am appalled by today’s Olympic time trial incident and would like to distance myself from the sporting directors’ statements, the German rider wrote on social media on Wednesday. Such comments are not acceptable.
On Thursday, Arndt posted a photo of the Olympic rings with the message Cycling Against Racism!
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More AP: https://apnews.com/hub/2020-tokyo-olympics and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
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