Marco van Basten axed by Fox Sports after ‘sieg Heil’ Nazi remark on live TV with wages donated to WWII studies

MARCO VAN BASTEN has been suspended by Dutch TV station Fox Sports for a week after his distasteful "sieg Heil" remark.

When taking part in a live TV interview last weekend, the AC Milan and Ajax hero attempted a crude joke with the phrase popularised by the Nazi party in Germany.

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Fox presenter Hans Kraay had been struggling with his grasp of German while speaking to Heracles manager Frank Wormuth, prompting van Basten to make the ill-fated jibe thinking his microphone was off.

Alas, it was audible to all watching and the network has come down on the 55-year-old.

They have decided to suspend striker-turned-pundit van Basten for a week.

In addition, his appearance fee will be donated to the Dutch Institute for Institute for War, Holocaust and Genocide Studies.

The funds will be used in their efforts to raise awareness and educate people on the history of the Second World War.

Van Basten apologised for the "sieg Heil" remark, calling it an "an ill-timed joke".

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He stated: "I didn’t mean to shock people, I just wanted to ridicule Hans’ German, but I’m sorry."

Fox Sports have distanced themselves from their analyst's comment, describing it as "stupid and inappropriate".

Clubs in the Netherlands have this week taken part in an anti-racism protest following the abuse aimed at Excelisor winger Ahmad Mendes Moreira, under the banner  'Racism? Then we don't play football!'.