Marko Arnautović has been accused of racism during his goal celebration
Austria’s Marko Arnautović decided to use his goal celebration to spread ‘racist and anti-Albanian’ rhetoric. After scoring during the Austria Vs North Macedonia match, which ended in a 3-1 victory to Austria, Arnautović allegedly chose to allude to white power.
So we realize Arnautovic flashed the "white power" symbol and then went on a racist (allegedly anti-Albanian) rant, right? #EURO2020 pic.twitter.com/4Ly7XvBHL2
— Jerrad Peters (@jerradpeters) June 14, 2021
In an image from the match, Arnautović can be seen to make a symbol with his fingers. The symbol is formed by touching the thumb and the index finger together and outstretching the remaining fingers. Despite initially starting as a hoax, the symbol was quickly adopted by white supremacists across the world.
The Informer, a Serbian news outlet, reported that Arnautović said: “I’m fucking your Albanian mother.” He then allegedly used a highly offensive and derogatory slang term.
Teammate David Alaba reportedly told Arnautović to “shut the f*ck up.” He is also seen to be aggressively in his face, which would support the claims that his celebration was racially fuelled.
Others on Twitter have suggested that the symbol means a lot of different things across the world. In the Balkans, the sign is used to call someone an asshole.
Whether the celebration was racially charged or not is still being debated.
