Incidents a New Low for Sport

The mindless actions of a few should never be seen as being representative of the many, but that doesn’t detract from the nastiness of two anti-American incidents at soccer stadiums in Greece and Scotland in the last couple of weeks.

Athens and Glasgow is where they occurred--to both cities’ shame--and both involved peculiarly twisted individuals using the tragedy of the World Trade Center and Pentagon disasters to make some sort of point.

The first happened two weeks ago, when the Greek club AEK Athens was playing Hibernian of Scotland in a UEFA Cup match in Athens. Some of the Greek team’s fans burned American and Israeli flags, chanted the name of Osama bin Laden and jeered during a moment of silence for victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the United States.

Shocked officials of AEK Athens, a 77-year-old club and one of Greece’s leading teams, tried to distance the club from the rabble and set about making what amends they could.

On Wednesday, club officials and players visited the U.S. embassy in Athens, where they signed the condolences book and apologized for the behavior of the alleged fans.

“In every society, there is a small section which reacts differently,” said Makis Psomiadis, an AEK official. “Our action today is an answer to those people, to change their way of thinking.”

Club spokesman Spyros Tripsas put it more forcefully. “AEK fans are not just a bunch of scum who burn the American flag,” he told Reuters. “These people are not AEK fans.”

The club has offered to come to the U.S. and play a friendly match here, with proceeds going to the families of those lost in the terrorist attacks.

Those gestures are all very well, but arresting, or at least evicting, the hooligans while the demonstration was in progress would have been even better received. As it is, Athens, the 2004 Olympic host city, will likely have earned yet another black mark in the eyes of many Americans.

On Sunday, another ugly incident took place when Scotland’s two largest and most successful clubs, Celtic and Rangers, were playing in Glasgow.

The target this time was Claudio Reyna, who plays for Rangers and also is captain of the U.S. national team. When Reyna was stepping up to take a corner kick, one Celtic fan spread his arms in an airplane gesture that unquestionably was in tasteless reference to the terrorist attacks.

To his immense credit, Reyna did not react. To Celtic’s credit, it responded quickly. A club spokeswoman said the fan would be banned from Celtic’s games for life when identified.

“I thought that, if anything, it [the tragedy] would teach people to unite and not to act like that,” Reyna told Scottish television on Sunday night. “I wouldn’t care even if he had had a lot to drink, you wouldn’t think that something as sick as that would come into someone’s mind.”

On Wednesday, Reyna, who likely will start for the U.S. in its crucial World Cup qualifying match against Jamaica on Sunday in Foxboro, Mass., talked to American media about the incident and its effect on him.

“It was uncalled for, but it was just the action of one person,” he said. “I didn’t react at all. I saw it out of the corner of my eye, but I didn’t react because I just didn’t really even believe it was happening. I didn’t tell anyone about it in the locker room afterward; I didn’t even tell my wife.”

Reyna said he was half hoping that he had misinterpreted the gesture, but others had seen it and, given the long and intense rivalry between Rangers and Celtic, the Scottish media made the most of it.

“It didn’t affect my game or anything,” Reyna said. “It wasn’t on my mind until I was asked about it. It’s over and done with and hopefully it never happens again.”

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At a Glance

MLS PLAYOFFS

SEMIFINALS

Best of Three

Galaxy vs. Chicago

Wednesday, Oct. 10--At Chicago, 5:30; Saturday, Oct. 13--At Galaxy, 7; Wednesday, Oct. 17--xAt Chicago, 5:30.

*

San Jose vs. Miami

Wednesday, Oct. 10--At Miami, 4:30; Sunday, Oct. 14--At Miami, 6; Wednesday, Oct. 17--xAt San Jose, 4:30.

Note: Three points for victory, one point for tie

x--If necessary

*

MLS CUP

Sunday, Oct. 21

At Columbus, Ohio

Semifinal winners, 9:30 a.m.