The Belgian women’s basketball team after arrival at Zaventem airport near Brussels
Belgian sports reporter Eddy Demarez has been suspended by the Flemish broadcaster VRT after statements about the Belgian women’s basketball team. He did that at the end of a live stream on Facebook, when he thought it had already stopped.
So it wasn’t – this is what viewers could hear:
Demarez commented on the return of the basketball team and other Olympians from Tokyo. When it was about a party at the end of the live broadcast and Demarez had already left the studio, he can be heard: “There must have been no shit, huh. I think there’s one straight among them.” Pooping stands for sexual intercourse in Flemish.
Individual players were also discussed. “That’s a man”, said the sports journalist about a player. About the posture of another it was said: “He is also called The Mountain called”.
On Twitter, players of the Belgian Cats, as the team is called, react indignantly:
The VRT speaks of inappropriate statements. “The VRT is in talks with Eddy and in the meantime he will no longer comment on programs”, says a response. “Such statements cannot be tolerated.”
Demarez himself says on the VRT site that he “heavily crossed the line” in a “private conversation away from the studio”. He says he has asked the basketball team if he can personally apologise.
The Belgian women’s basketball lost at the Olympic Games in the quarterfinals of the host country Japan, with a difference of 1 point. The team returned to Belgium this afternoon.
