The CEO who was caught on video snatching Polish tennis player Kamil Majchrzak’s autographed cap from a young fan last week apologized for his actions on Monday, saying that he “became caught up in the heat of the moment and the joy of the victory.”
In a post on his Facebook account, Piotr Szczerek, the chief executive of paving company Drogbruk, addressed the incident that took place while Majchrzak was signing autographs after his victory in Thursday’s game against Karen Khachanov.
Videos that went viral online appear to show that when Majchrzak signed his hat and sought to give it to a young fan in the audience, Szczerek, who was next to him, snatched it away. The young boy can be seen pleading with Szczerek to give it to him, but he ignored him.
“I would like to unequivocally apologize to the young boy, his family, all the fans, and the player himself,” Szczerek wrote. “I take full responsibility for my extremely poor judgment and hurtful actions. It was never my intent to steal away a prized memento from the young fan.”
He added, “I became caught up in the heat of the moment and the joy of the victory, and I believed Majchrzak was handing a hat to me to give to my sons, who had previously asked for autographs. Regardless of what I believed was happening, the actions I took hurt the young boy and disappointed the fans.”
