Head of Estonia's FA: Skit satirizing me was well wide of the mark
A recent parody chief of the Estonian Football Association mystified its comedy target, ERR's sports portal reports.
Appearing on Qatar World Cup special broadcast on ETV2, ahead of the Portugal-Uruguay group game Monday evening, the head of the Estonian FA (EJL) Aivar Pohlak, said that he could not identify with the appearance of TV funny-man Tõnis Niinemets, who spoofed Pohlak.
Pohlak said the skit, which featured Niinemets wearing one of Pohlak's trademark sweater vests, was: "Terribly hard to relate to."
"It appears to me that my public image of me or that of the functioning of the EJL, which it attempts to portray, differs wildly from reality. I can't identify with it at all, as it's like another world," he told presenter Tarmo Tiisler.
At the same time, Niinemets and his co-hosts Henrik Kalmet, Kait Kall and Karl-Andreas Kalmet, who front a world cup-themed satire show, "Kinoteatri MM katarsis", were granted artistic license by their mark.
"If people think something is right, they have the right to express themselves," Pohlak went on.
"However, the way the EJL works, its fundamentals or possible problems... no. The way they try to portray this is wide of the mark. But this also makes coping with it easier," he continued.
Nonetheless, the episode seemed unlikely to lead to a Jason Lee/David Baddiel-type scenario.
Pohlak added that: "I've been told a lot that I must have a thick skin, so I can deal with such things."
"My logic in life is, on the contrary, I don't want to have too thick of a skin. I'd rather let things like that get to me, giving me a sharp intake of breath; I don't want to become numb to these things. That is my gentler side, and the other side has to manage this. I don't want to transform into a cynic."
The "Kinoteatri MM katarsis" episode was the third of eight and which fills in the gaps between the two evening football broadcasts ETV offers.
Kinoteater was started by several former students of the Estonian Theater and Drama Academy.
Readers with Estonian can judge for themselves the merits of the sketch here (from the 19-minute mark onward).
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Editor: Andrew Whyte, Anders Nõmm
Source: "Kinoteatri MM katarsis"
