OAKLAND, United States (AFP) – Oakland Athletics coach Ryan Christenson has apologized after appearing to make a Nazi-style salute to a player during the team’s win over the Texas Rangers.
Christenson raised his arm aloft in the gesture as players walked off the field following the 6-4 victory over the Rangers on Thursday.
The Athletics’ Australian pitcher Liam Hendriks shoved Christenson’s arm down as he made the gesture.
The bench coach then turned around and repeated the salute.
Christenson issued an apology on Twitter following the incident.
”I made a mistake and will not deny it…I greeted players with a gesture that was offensive,” Christenson said.
”In the world today of Covid, I adapted our elbow bump, which we do after wins, to create some distance with the players.
”My gesture unintentionally resulted in a racist and horrible salute that I do not believe in.”
The Athletics also condemned Christenson’s gesture, describing it as looking like a ”Nazi salute.”
”We do not support or condone this gesture or the racist sentiment behind it,” the Athletics said.
”This is incredibly offensive, especially in these times when we as a club and so many others are working to expose and address racial inequities in our country.
”We are deeply sorry that this happened on our playing field.”