The Olympic Video games is an occasion meant to convey the world collectively, all nations becoming a member of fingers to have a good time the heights of human athleticism. After all, there are limits to this philosophy, as international politics and conflicts realistically cannot be fully put apart.
Even so, some Olympic disputes are decidedly extra petty than others. One such quarrel on the Paris 2024 Video games now entails pizza, with a Pizza Hut promotion in Hong Kong and Macao going viral attributable to its cheeky jab at Italy.
Earlier this week, Pizza Hut introduced that prospects in Hong Kong and Macao can have pineapple added to their pizzas freed from cost till July 31.
“If you are a foodie, choose the Italian style and add pineapple,” Pizza Hut Hong Kong & Monaco wrote on Fb (translated through Google Translate). “Or add Hawaiian style with pineapple, starting from $139 [$US18]!”
The submit was accompanied by a graphic exhibiting a fencer with three pineapple rings threaded on their sword.
Pizza Hut’s promotion appears particularly designed to rile up Italians by ostensibly ruining one in every of their most well-known dishes. Pineapple on pizza has lengthy been a controversial topping, with many contemplating it tantamount to sacrilege (albeit usually in a joking method).
Nonetheless, this lighthearted potshot did not come out of nowhere. Pizza Hut’s pineapple promotion got here sizzling on the heels of Hong Kong defeating Italy in fencing for gold at Paris, responding to the latter’s poor response to the loss.
The Olympic fencing controversy between Hong Kong and Italy
On Monday, at Paris’ Grand Palais, Hong Kong fencer Ka Lengthy Cheung defeated Italy’s Filippo Macchi to win the 2024 Olympic gold medal within the males’s fencing particular person foil occasion. The shut bout ended with a rating of 15-14 after going to sudden dying, with Macchi placing up a formidable battle in opposition to the defending champion at his first ever Olympic Video games. There have been even two moments the place the judges needed to evaluation video footage to find out whether or not the profitable fifteenth level had been scored, although no level was awarded each occasions.
Filippo Macchi of Italy and Ka Lengthy Cheung of Hong Kong.
Credit score: Al Bello / Getty Pictures
Cheung ultimately emerged victorious after a video evaluation of a 3rd contentious level was dominated in his favour. Sadly, each Cheung’s gold and Macchi’s silver have been marred by what seems to be some reasonably poor sportsmanship.
Shortly after the match, the Italian Fencing Federation (IFF) introduced it was submitting a proper protest in opposition to the outcomes with the Fédération Internationale d’Escrime (the governing physique of Olympic fencing) and the Worldwide Olympic Committee. Particularly, the IFF took problem with the referees’ house international locations of Taipei and South Korea, alleging that they had been too shut geographically to Hong Kong to arbitrate pretty.
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This appears a wierd argument contemplating that the complete historical past of worldwide battle suggests bodily proximity bears little relation as to if international locations really like one another. As such, many individuals on-line have attributed the IIF’s criticism to anti-Asian racism.
“Filippo Macchi is the real winner and he was denied a gold he deserved,” mentioned IFF president Paolo Azzi in an announcement (translated through Google Translate). “The selection of referees is a problem but the level of refereeing was below the great final we saw.”
The gold medal match was refereed by Huang Hao-Chih from Taipei, with Suh Sangwon of South Korea performing because the video referee. Ayoub Ferjani from Tunisia and Vilem Madr from the Czech Republic served as assistant referees. These 4 judges had beforehand refereed Macchi’s 15-11 semi-final win in opposition to U.S. fencer Nick Itkin, albeit with Ferjani and Huang performing as referee and video referee respectively.
Macchi’s quarter-final win in opposition to Egypt’s Mohamed Hamza was additionally overseen by Madr and Tim Claus Bardenhagen, whose respective house international locations of the Czech Republic and Germany are notably nearer to Italy than Egypt.
The IFF didn’t increase any objection to the selection of referees in both of those earlier matches.
Italy’s obvious sore loser behaviour wasn’t confined to IFF officers. Individuals from each Italy and Hong Kong shortly took to social media to insult the opposing athletes, the match referees, and one another. Such feedback have ranged from sharing offensive meals mixtures to extra aggressive and mean-spirited assaults.
It is not all vitriol, although. Whereas Macchi, Cheung, and the judges’ Instagram remark sections nonetheless include mean-spirited posts, there are various congratulatory and appreciative sentiments as properly.
For his half, Macchi is main by instance by accepting his Olympic silver medal with class and style. The Italian fencer acknowledged followers who felt he’d been robbed of gold, however mentioned he thought of himself lucky to have are available second.
“I’ve heard of all kinds, they robbed you, outrageous arbitration, it’s a shame,” Macchi wrote in a submit on Instagram (translated through Instagram). “Yet I’m reminded that I’m one lucky guy. I’m 22, a beautiful family, amazing friends, and a girlfriend that constantly leaves me speechless.
“I got here second in an important competitors for any athlete enjoying a sport, and since I play this sport I realized that referee selections should be revered, at all times! I do know each referees, I don’t really feel like pointing a finger at them and blaming them for my lack of success even as a result of it might result in nothing however creating an alibi for me. What has occurred is prior to now, now it’s gone, what’s going to occur sooner or later is as much as me!”
Macchi’s mature response seems to have earned him the respect of many, whether or not they’re from Hong Kong or elsewhere. Happily, the boys’s fencing particular person foil wasn’t his solely probability of profitable gold on the Paris Olympics. The Italian fencer is at the moment scheduled to compete in opposition to Poland within the males’s foil staff quarter-finals subsequent week. He’ll little question have fairly a couple of extra folks cheering for him now.
