Greeks in Australia were shocked to hear Andrew Gaze, the host of the opening ceremony coverage on Australia’s Seven Network, refer to the Slavic nation officially referred by the International Olympic Committee as the “Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia,” as being connected to Alexander the Great and King Phillip.
Greek Australians mobilized— formally through The Pan-Macedonian Association of Melbourne and Victoria, as well as informally via Twitter, where dozens of users Tweeted Gaze directly.
Gaze is a retired basketball player who actually played professionally in Greece for a time.
He responded on Twitter, insinuating that us was reading from the prepared script and that “If it is incorrect or wasn’t communicated correctly, I sincerely apologise.”
Our script. If it is incorrect or wasn't communicated correctly, I sincerely apologise. pic.twitter.com/IbQnqQYOYI
— Andrew Gaze (@AndrewGaze10) August 6, 2016
Many were pleased with Gaze’s apology.
https://twitter.com/ian808s/status/761826835269230593
But some thought it too weak, especially for an athlete who spent considerable time living and playing in Greece.
weak apology, expected more from someone who played basketball in Greece
— Vanessa (@PurppleRainz) August 7, 2016
Gaze also posted a photo of the script he was reading from on his Twitter post.
In a letter to the broadcaster, the President of the PanMacedonian Association of Melbourne and Victoria accused the network of “ignorance” of history citing known historical fact that in antiquity, only Greeks were permitted to take part in the Olympics yet when mentioning Alexander the Great’s participation in the ancient games, it was during the entrance of FYROM, a Slavic nation whose history clearly has nothing to do with the Macedonian general of antiquity.
In the United States, a similar controversy erupted when commentators from NBC network shared the same inaccurate history.
(Note: Special thanks to our reader Con M., for sharing details about the Australian developments, as well as numerous readers on our Facebook page who informed us about Australia’s coverage.)
15 comments
How about if we, in the US and the Greek-Australians do some defensive talk and send the network that presents the Olympics a note, before the deed is done, explaining about Macedonia and its disconnect with Alexander the great. After it has been announced, all the apologizing in the world won’t do any good. Its already etched in the memory of the non-Greeks, if they were paying attention, that Alexander was a Macedonian, so, the modern Slavs are descended from him. How about it Pan-Macedonians? When you tell us the Alexander in not Slavic, you are preaching to the choir. We already know that. Lets keep this in mind for the next Olympics
Most foreigner unethically stupid as Skopians turn into “ancient Macedonians” right before their eyes. They are clearly trying to cover up their mistake of ridiculously calling them “Macedonians”
What Greeks should do (if our government officials weren’t a bunch of cowards cowards) is REMOVE state recognition of countries and ethnic groups that call them “Macedonians”. The time for talk has ended. Only retaliation against their foreign apologists will lead to results.
Nbc here in NY did the same thing. Very sad that this is what the word believes.
Why hasn’t the Pan-Macedonian Society in the USA asked Matt Lauer and NBC to apologize?
I believe that some mistakes are deliberately done.
What a better opportunity for someone to give a the wrong historical information than the opening ceremony of the olympics.
If you say something enough times people start to believe it. Especially uneducated people that never read history in their lives
Here are 7 facts you cannot dispute
1. Common language was Ancient Greek – in fact the Dorian, Ioanian and Atticca dialects
2. Common religion of the time was believing in the 12 Gods of Olympus
3. Burial Monuments are all Greek
4. Alexander the Great competed in the Olympic games which was exclusively for Greeks
5. All coins of the time have Greek Inscriptions
6. All placenames and names of Macedonia are Greek – Antiochus, Antogonus, Kassundrus, Menelaus, Orestis, Arechlaus, and the name Macedonia ciomes from the Greek – Mac – which is long – so how does the name of a country take its roots from another language ?
7. Alexander the Great was born in Pella which is in Greece in the Province of Macedonia
8. Alexander the Great spread Greek culture wherever he conquered
9. All Archaeological evidence shows the identity of it being Greek
The FYROM should start respecting history and not trying to recreate history
This news article sums it all up
http://foreignpolicy.com/2016/06/19/let-them-eat-alexander-the-great-statues-skopje-2014-macedonia-colorful-revolution/
The truth is that Skopje is a fabrication of tito after falling out with the soviets and bulgaria in the 1940’s and being socialist/ communists they are liars 70% and spin bull the rest 30%. As most of the world is an uneducated mass who believe whatever they are fed and wouldn’t know what a Macedonian is historically. The world wide dumbing down and a move to a velvet glove 1984 style world where ignorance is truth we have remarks like this and the NBC is guilty also had they known that only Hellene/Greeks were allowed to compete in the Olympics the gross stupidity of the Australian and NBC commentator would not have been made.
So, you steal a part of Macedonia in 1913, and now you claim everything prior to then. You can not be both Greek and Macedonian.
Macedonia for the Macedonians (not Greeks)
What a bunch of over dramatic cry babies the modern greeks are!
Alexander is the son of a macedonian man. This makes him macedonian.
You cannot re-write history you big bunch of whingers
About time the TV networks told the world the truth. Alexander the Great is Macedonian. Greece is a false nation comprised of Turks, Albanians, Slavs, Gypsys, Pomeks, Macedonians and Vlachs who had to change their names and nationality to a Greek one when the Nation of Greece was created in the 1830s, prior to that there was no such thing.
Greece is the only true nation, the rest of you are just a bunch of crossbred Monkeys…..
Honestly, Greeks, Andrew knew full well what he was saying – given that he played professionally for Greece, script or no script.
The fact of the matter is NOBODY today is related to a historical figure from 2500 years ago. There was no line in the borders between today’s Macedonia and Greece back then. Northern Greece was occupied by mainly Macedonians before the population exchange between Greece and Turkey in the 1900’s. So Greeks don’t have an exclusive right to Alexander the MACEDONIAN…he was never Alexander the Greek!
Greeks really need to stop being pig headed bullies (anybody who has worked with a Greek would know that they are always right even when they are wrong and really hard to get along with). I can’t even fathom how much you Greeks bully. Why do t you bully the Turks who continually fly over your air space, yet you keep quiet. I wonder why?
Time to move forward and get along with your neighbour who ironically have a very similar culture to your Orthodox Macedonian neighbours whether you like it or not….not the Serbs , not the Italians..
MACEDONIA FOR US, THE MACEDONIANS
“You can not be both Greek and Macedonian.”
lol too bad macedonia is a province of Greece and even ancient Macedonians were speaking the greek language (dorian, ionian and attica dialectus) and not the slavic language that Skopje – former Vardarska – speaks now.
“Greece is a false nation comprised of Turks, Albanians, Slavs, Gypsys, Pomeks, Macedonians and Vlachs”
said the nation with no identity until 1991 HAHAHAHA you are a minority even in your own “country” hahaha
you are a creation of Tito, don’t get your hopes too high, imbecile