http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/14/sports/olympics/14hoops.html
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August 14, 20081 e* K# s# z3 @! [4 x2 W6 e8 C
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I.O.C. Calls Photo of Spanish Teams ‘Clearly Inappropriate’ By PETE THAMEL
, {8 A5 y8 ^9 M9 H公仔箱論壇
& L8 _. a( z5 G! b7 m8 h公仔箱論壇BEIJING — Pictures in a newspaper advertisement that a spokeswoman for the I.O.C. called “clearly inappropriate” have left the Spanish basketball teams apologizing for its contents.
1 | }7 h) \6 N/ r9 ]( t+ X- ]( N3 wThe Spanish men’s and women’s basketball teams posed for pictures pulling on the skin behind their eyes to make it look as if they were Asian. The pictures have run in an advertisement for the Spanish courier company, Seur, in the Spanish sports daily, Marca, for the last month.
, {% c3 i1 m9 J; M公仔箱論壇The Spanish coach and multiple team members, many of whom play in the N.B.A., said that the picture was taken out of context and that they posed for it only after being implored to by Seur’s representatives. os.tvboxnow.com1 X5 F# v* J4 p! g: W: l; i5 u% z
“If anyone feels offended by it, we totally apologize for it,” the Spanish star Pau Gasol said. “We never meant anything offensive by it.”
- R, o! a& [" z9 }Emmanuelle Moreau, a spokeswoman for the International Olympic Committee, said in an e-mail message: “We understand that the Spanish team intended no offense and has apologized. The matter rests there as far as the I.O.C. is concerned.”
1 t/ O4 F3 ~6 w1 ^公仔箱論壇Not everyone was as overtly apologetic as Gasol, who spoke Wednesday afternoon after practice at Beijing University of Language and Culture. Gasol plays in the National Basketball Association for the Lakers and could communicate more clearly with American reporters because he speaks English better than most of the teammates and coach.
( W& o$ R4 w. b1 Jtvb now,tvbnow,bttvbThe Spanish Coach, Aito García Reneses, declined to apologize for the picture, which he said he had not seen. He did not appear in the picture. He said the intention was a joke. The Spanish Olympic Committee declined comment and a spokesman for the Spanish Basketball Federation said that its president, José Luis Saez, would comment after Spain’s game on Thursday. TVBNOW 含有熱門話題，最新最快電視，軟體，遊戲，電影，動漫及日常生活及興趣交流等資訊。& i- z4 l* y) Q, Y- A0 O9 A' f
“All of the Spanish people are close to the Chinese people mentally,” Reneses said. “We have a very good relationship.”
( i8 Q2 T7 z# u0 O# \Reneses compared the intent of the picture to the Spanish team going to play a taller team and taking a picture on their tip toes. He said the intent was not offensive.
/ k. U4 v6 D/ J1 Z) ]8 w: MGasol gave the context behind the photo, saying that the team spent three hours on the morning of July 1 posing for 100 or 200 different photos for about 10 sponsors. The pose for the Seur ad was simply one of a litany poses that day.
% k2 k5 M5 N& M. U: D公仔箱論壇“Some of us didn’t feel comfortable doing it,” Gasol said. “To me it was little clownish for our part to be doing that. The sponsor insisted and insisted. They pushed because they’re the people that pay the money. It was just a bad idea to do that. It was never intended to be offensive or racist against anybody.”公仔箱論壇+ I* K. I* O' P+ K# k C% v, E
The strongest reaction came on the Internet, as a global debate in comments sections has varied from Chinese being offended to people wondering if others were being too politically correct. Representatives from Seur, the N.B.A., the Chinese Olympic Committee and an editor at Marca did not respond to requests for comment.
" Q* S2 N: e/ x8 p5 bThe Spanish guard José Calderon said it was his understanding that the intention of the picture was for the sponsor to reach out to Asians. He became annoyed with questions about the photo, especially because news media reports mixed in with other recent moments of sporting insensitivity in Spain. Those low moments have included racial taunts at soccer matches, a coach who used an offensive word to describe the soccer star Thierry Henry and racial taunts aimed at the Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton earlier this year in Barcelona.
. {: H8 y# y/ \2 T7 M4 S3 ~( o5 F' e公仔箱論壇“I think it’s too much,” Calderon said. “I think some people want to mix that with things that have happened in Spain before. Spain is one of the most multicultural countries in the world.”
: M: D% O7 `; _$ Z! yGasol added that it was met with mixed reaction by the team — some of the players in the picture were not making the gesture.
- i6 S) `; \. X3 X. }& \TVBNOW 含有熱門話題，最新最快電視，軟體，遊戲，電影，動漫及日常生活及興趣交流等資訊。“I didn’t find it very funny,” Gasol said. “I didn’t find it offensive either. Some guys didn’t mind. I don’t want to be that way, I guess, doing that stuff.” , W) k' ~# o& d3 ]4 I0 G: X
Jing Zhang contributed research. |
發表於 2008-8-14 05:54 AM
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(星島)8月13日 星期三 16:40
Spain's men's basketball team pose for the advert. Photograph: Public domain
