VILNIUS - Lithuanian Basketball Federation President Vladas Garastas may face a prison sentence after making a series of racist comments about American players in the Lithuanian league.
"Now about the negro playing in Zalgiris, I would expel him immediately.
Zygimantas Janavicius is twice as good as he is... Education, there's no
education there, with only the blackies playing," the Lithuanian-language daily Lietuvos Rytas cited Garastas,
76, as saying in reference to a Zalgiris players from the United States.
After the interview, the Human Rights Monitoring Institute asked the
Prosecutor General's Office to open a probe into the conduct of the LBF
president.
Garastas circulated a public apology on Tuesday, saying his emotional
statements were caused by poor health and intemperance. "I acknowledge that
my comments were inappropriate, insulting and indefensible... I was
impulsive and emotional to use the strong-worded statements to describe the
persons of a different race," said Garastas.
