NEWS

Independent Greeks demand apology from IOC chief

The Independent Greeks have called on International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge to retract a comment he made about the Olympics ?coming home? during the opening ceremony for the London 2012 Games on Friday night.

?In a sense, the Olympic Games are coming home tonight,? he said. ?This great sports-loving country is widely recognized as the birthplace of modern sport.?

Terence Quick, spokesman for the right-wing nationalist party, said that Rogge?s comment was ?historically ignorant, unacceptable, provocative and in keeping with the commercialization of the Olympic Ideals.?

He called for the IOC chief to apologize.

?He should retract his comments straight away and apologize to Greeks and Greece, which gave birth to the Olympic Games,? said Quick.

He also criticized the Hellenic Olympic Committee for not reacting to Rogge?s comment.

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