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HOT: Amahl Pellegrino (left) believes his teammate Flamur Kastrati (right) explanation after the incident at Intility Stadium on Sunday. Here are the two pictured at Aker Stadium after a match against Molde in the fall of 2019. Photo: Svein Ove Ekornesvåg
Amahl Pellegrino (30) believes that Flamur Kastrati (28) did not know the meaning of the word “sweeper”, but he is clear that there is no excuse.
– I do not support their words or their actions. Nor does he do it himself, Kristiansund’s Amahl Pellegrino tells VG on Monday.
It sparked strong reactions when Kristiansund’s Flamur Kastrati called Vålerenga coach Dag-Eilev Fagermo a “fucking sweeper” during the team’s game on Sunday night. The KBK player went to bed later that night and regretted what he had said.
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Both Kristiansund and the Norwegian Football Association will now investigate the case. The club confirms this Monday in a press release that Kastrati will not participate in games or training sessions at the club while the case is being processed.
– If there is anyone who will take punishment with open arms, it is Flamur, says Pellegrino.
He himself has been a strong voice in the fight against incitement and discrimination in Norwegian football lately. In the match against Aalesund on October 4, he received racist comments that were yelled at him from a stands:
Later, a fan was banned from Aafk Stadium until 2021.
When asked how he sees his teammate’s incitement against other cases in Norwegian football recently, he replies:
– All types of discrimination must be addressed. It doesn’t matter if it is racism, homosexuality, religion, it cannot be classified. There is no first, second and third place here. Discrimination is discrimination.
He didn’t even get the exchange of words and the incident until he was replaced in the 71st minute. Then Kastrati, who was replaced nine minutes earlier for the incident, sat in the locker room and explained what he had said after Pellegrino’s questions.
– It was really impossible to talk to him. He was completely devastated after what he had done, he says.
– Without excuse, behind this there is ignorance. His intention was not to commit homosexuality, but that is what he did by using those words, the 30-year-old says.
When Kastrati went to bed Sunday night, he said that he did not know the full meaning of the word he had spoken.
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– Probably all of Norway will think that this is the worst excuse a footballer has made, but the truth is that I did not know what “sweeping” meant. Unfortunately, I have heard it too many times and thought it meant something like “idiot”, Kastrati told VG on Sunday night.
Pellegrino says that he chooses to believe his teammate’s explanation.
– I knew what the word meant, but I read and heard that there were others who didn’t. That he says he didn’t know, I think. If you look at the interview he did with Eurosport, you see that he is a guy who does not understand the meaning of what he said, says Pellegrino.
– I hope and believe that I would have reacted differently if I had known the meaning.
– Would you have believed the explanation if it was someone from the opposing team who did the same?
– Yes. It’s about what kind of person you are. He had believed in the person, but had not endorsed the words or the action. Footballers are among the best role models in this country. We will mark the way and show the way to the little ones. We have a great voice, says Pellegrino.
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