Patrick Moster was suspended by Germany\u2019s Olympic sports federation after referring to cyclists from Algeria and Eritrea in a derogatory manner.<\/b>
\nThe sports director for Germany\u2019s cycling program has been stripped of his duties and sent home one day after he repeatedly shouted a racial slur during a televised time trial at the Olympics, the country\u2019s Olympic sports federation said on Thursday. Watching from the sidelines as a German cyclist trailed two competitors from Algeria and Eritrea in a men\u2019s time trial on Wednesday, the director, Patrick Moster, could be heard on camera yelling \u201cget the camel drivers,\u201d according to an English translation by the news website Deutsche Welle. The episode came one day after a Greek broadcaster cut ties with a commentator for a racist comment about South Korean table tennis athletes, further undermining the themes of inclusion and good will that are an emphasis for organizers of the games. It also followed attacks on Naomi Osaka, who lit the Olympic cauldron during the opening ceremony, but whose Japanese identity was openly questioned after her ouster from the women\u2019s tennis competition Mr. Moster apologized for his derogatory reference to the two cyclists from African countries, which have large Muslim populations. They were Azzedine Lagab of Algeria and Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier of Eritrea. \u201cIn the heat of the moment and with the overall burden that we have here at the moment, my choice of words was not appropriate,\u201d he told D.P. A., a German news agency. \u201cI am so sorry, I can only sincerely apologize. I didn\u2019t want to discredit anyone. We have many friends with North African roots. As I said, I\u2019m sorry.\u201d Mr. Moster\u2019s exhortation drew widespread condemnation in Germany, including from Alfons H\u00f6rmann, the president of the country\u2019s Olympic sports federation. Mr. H\u00f6rmann said that the federation had accepted Mr. Moster\u2019s apology as being sincere, but that his comments had breached the Olympic values. He said that \u201cfair play, respect and tolerance\u201d were \u201cnonnegotiable.\u201d A request for comment was left for the International Olympic Committee, whose president, Thomas Bach, is German. The Union Cycliste Internationale, the world cycling association, announced on Thursday that its disciplinary commission had decided to provisionally suspend Mr. Moster, saying that his remarks had been contrary to basic rules of decency. \u201cThe U.C.I. condemns all forms of racist and discriminatory behaviour and strives to ensure integrity, diversity and equality in cycling,\u201d the organization said in a statement. Team Africa Rising, a group seeking to promote cycling in Africa, called for Mr. Moster to resign and said that his explanation was \u201chorrific.\u201d It was not immediately clear whether Mr. Moster would eventually be allowed to continue in his role with the German cycling program. Nikias Arndt, the German cyclist to whom Mr. Moster had been shouting at when he used the slur, distanced himself from him on Twitter. He called Mr. Moster\u2019s comments appalling and said that they were unacceptable. Mr. Lagab, the Algerian cyclist, took a sarcastic tone on Twitter. \u201cWell, There is no camel race in #olympics that\u2019s why I came to cycling,\u201d he wrote. \u201cAt least I was there in #Tokyo2020.\u201d Moments after cameras picked up Mr. Moster\u2019s comments, Florian Nass, a German commentator, said that words had failed him and that there was no place for that kind of behavior in the sport. One day earlier, ERT, a public broadcaster in Greece, said that it had terminated its relationship with a commentator after he made a racist comment about the eyes of a South Korean table tennis competitor. At the start of the games, a South Korean broadcaster apologized for airing \u201cinappropriate\u201d photos next to countries in the opening ceremony. The images drew criticism from viewers, who said they were offensive or had perpetuated stereotypes. For Ukraine, the broadcaster, MBC, aired a photo of Chernobyl, reminding viewers about the nuclear disaster that happened in 1986. When it was Malaysia\u2019s turn in the parade of nations, MBC showed a graphic with that country\u2019s coronavirus vaccination rate, along with its gross domestic product. And for Haiti, it showed scenes of violence in the streets.<\/p>\n