Punishment demanded for Austrian footballer´s racist incident

The Football Federation in North Macedonia has demanded the harshest punishment for the Austrian footballer Marko Arnautovic for using racist gestures and insults during match against North Macedonia, reported Xinhua, quoting Media Information Agency (MIA) on Tuesday.

According to MIA, the Football Federation in North Macedonia announced that they have submitted an official letter to UEFA demanding the harshest punishment for Arnautovic for allegedly using racist gestures and insults.

The federation strongly condemned the nationalistic outbreak of Arnautovic after he scored a goal during the football match with North Macedonia addressed to the defender of the national team of North Macedonia Egzijan Alioski.

"We are against nationalism, discrimination and all other forms of insults and outbursts that aren't part of the football spirit and the values we stand for together," the federation said in a statement.

"There were some heated words yesterday in the emotions of the game for which I would like to APOLOGIZE - especially to my friends from North Macedonia and Albania."

"I would like to say one thing very clearly: I am not a racist! I have friends in almost every country and I stand for diversity. Everyone who knows me is aware of that," Arnautovic wrote on Instagram:

MIA reported that the use of language from Arnautovic, whose father is Serbian, was related to the War in Kosovo and targeted Alioski, whose origin is Albanian.

On Sunday, North Macedonia's football team lost to Austria 3-1 during a match played in Bucharest, Romania at the ongoing Euro 2020.

North Macedonia that is playing for the first time in the European Championship is going to play against Ukraine on June 17.

In response to the demand of Football Federation of North Macedonia, UEFA said that it has launched an official investigation into Arnautovic's actions in the incident.

"An Ethics and Disciplinary Inspector has been appointed to conduct an investigation regarding the incident involving the player Marko Arnautovic that occurred during the 2020 European Championship group-stage match between the national teams of Austria and North Macedonia on June 13, 2021," UEFA said in a statement released on Tuesday.