Serbia’s volleyball federation issued a public apology Wednesday, June 2, following a controversy involving one of its players making a racist gesture during their match against Thailand in the FIVB Volleyball Women’s Nations League in Rimini, Italy.
In a Facebook post, the federation said they are “deeply saddened by the recent events” and clarified that “it all ended up as a simple misunderstanding.”
“We apologize sincerely to the Thailand team, people of Thailand and to all of you affected by this,” the statement read.
“But, please, don’t blow this out of proportion! Sanja is aware of her mistake and she immediately apologized to the whole Thailand team.”
Video of Sanja Djurdjevic making “slanty eyes” after a play went viral online, getting criticisms from volleyball fans.
Showing there are no hard feelings for what happened, the federation posted a video of Thailand volleyball superstar Pleumjit Thinkaow, who was the object of the gesture, and Djurdjevic being friendly to each other after the match.
The federation also posted a picture of players from both teams.
Serbia swept that match, 25-19, 25-23, 25-23.