Serbia libero Sanja Djurdjevic has been given a two-game suspension for her racist gesture during the match against Thailand in the 2021 FIVB Women’s Nations League last week.
In addition, the Volleyball Federation of Serbia has also been fined 20,000 swiss franc (approximately 700,000 baht).
Djurdjevic had been banned from playing against Belgium on Tuesday and will also miss the game against Canada on Saturday, according to a statement from the FIVB Disciplinary Panel Sub-Committee, which is the independent body competent to impose disciplinary sanctions within FIVB competitions, posted on www.volleyballworld.com on Tuesday.
The FIVB will donate the fine to a cause dedicated to tackling discriminatory behaviour and/or to fund educational programmes on cultural sensitivity for the global volleyball family, the body added.
During the match against Thailand on June 1, Djurdjevic was caught on camera celebrating a point by making a ‘slant eyed’ gesture, which created a huge backlash on social media after the match.
The player later apologised to the Thai team while the Volleyball Federation of Serbia tweeted: “Was it uncalled for? Yes. Was it a racist gesture? Yes.
What we argue is that there was no intention or malice. This young girl didn’t grasp the weight of the gesture.”
Thailand, who are still winless after nine matches in the annual tournament, will start the fourth week of the preliminary round against Germany on Saturday at 5pm, followed by matches against Poland (00.30am) and Brazil (00.30am).
All the matches will be shown live on Channel 3HD (33).
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