Swiss soccer player Michel Morganella has been kicked out of the Olympics for making a racist remark against South Korea. He allegedly tweeted racist comments, just hours after Switzerland lost to South Korea 2-1 in the soccer match. He tweeted that South Koreans "can go burn" and called them "a bunch of mongoloids".

In light of the racist comments, Morganella has been kicked out of the Olympic team, becoming the second Olympic athlete to be booted out for racist remarks. Swiss Olympic team chief Gian Gilli said in a statement that Morganella has been stripped of his Olympic accreditation, adding that he "discriminated against, insulted and violated the dignity of the South Korea football team as well as the South Korean people."

Morganella released an apology, saying: "I am sincerely sorry for the people of South Korea, for the players, but equally for the Swiss delegation and Swiss football in general. It's clear that I'm accepting the consequences. After the disappointing result and the reaction from Korea that followed, I made a huge error."

Gilli said Morganella had to be sent home under terms of the International Olympic Committee's code of conduct, which states that athletes show mutual respect towards one another.

The 23-year-old's Twitter account has been deleted and the disgraced player has already been sent back to his home country.
Gilli also apologized on behalf of Morganella: "We would like to apologize, especially to the South Korea National Olympic Committee and the South Korea Football Association for the behavior of the player."

Morganella's exit from the Olympics comes after Greek athlete Voula Papachristou. The Greek jumper was expelled from the Olympics for posting a racist remark on Twitter. She had tweeted: "with so many Africans in Greece... at least the West Nile mosquitos will eat homemade food!!!" Papachristou was referring to a recent outbreak of the West Nile virus in Greece that reportedly left five people sick and killed one person.

Isidoros Kouvelos, the head of the Greek Committee stated that Papachristou "showed no respect for the basic Olympian value," according to BBC. "She made a mistake and in life we pay for our mistakes."

Papachristou had also apologized for her inappropriate tweet. "I would like to express my heartfelt apologies for the unfortunate and tasteless joke I published on my personal Twitter account," she wrote on Twitlonger. "I am very sorry and ashamed for the negative responses I triggered, since I never wanted to offend anyone, or to encroach human rights.

"My dream is connected to the Olympic Games and I could not possibly participate if I did not respect their values. Therefore, I could never believe in discrimination between human beings and races.

"I would like to apologize to all my friends and fellow athletes, who I may have insulted or shamed, the National Team, as well as the people and companies who support my athletic career. Finally, I would like to apologize to my coach and my family."

Tags
Olympics 2012, Soccer