Italian football is rocked again by a story of racism towards a player. This time it’s Inter Milan’s Belgium’s Romelu Lukaku, who was the target of Juventus supporters in Tuesday’s Italian Cup semi-final.
When he smashed the game with a penalty, Lukaku was targeted with racial slurs. Some videos broadcast on social networks make you hear monkey cries coming from the stands, a gesture all too common in Italian stadiums.
Fifa President Gianni Infantino has spoken out against this behavior by the Turin supporters.
On Wednesday, he claimed that the racial slurs directed at Lukaku were “simply unacceptable” and that racism has “no place” in football.
Support
Infantino pointed out that the athletes “must support victims of these abuses and the perpetrators must be duly punished by all authorities”.
The Fifa President called for sporting sanctions with a bite to curb the phenomenon.
“We must ensure that such incidents are treated with strong sporting sanctions and act as a deterrent,” reports Agence France-Presse.
Unfortunately, Romelu Lukaku is all too used to this behavior from Italian fans.
“History repeats itself. I lived it in 2019 and again in 2023. I hope the league really takes action this time,” Lukaku wrote on Instagram.
He was referring to a similar incident in Cagliari. At that time there were no sanctions.
Provocation?
Lukaku was thrown out of the game for a second yellow card after his goal. He had left to demonstrate in front of the Turin supporters’ grandstand by putting his index finger to his mouth.
Roc Nation Sports International, which manages its press relations, assured that the Belgian didn’t want to provoke Torino fans with a gesture he often made to celebrate a goal.
“Romelu deserves an apology from Juventus (…). The Italian authorities must seize this opportunity to fight against racism instead of punishing the victim,” the agency said in a statement.
Frequently
This behavior is very common in Italian stadiums. Bananas have already been thrown at Mario Balotelli on the pitch.
In addition, recent incidents are increasing. On Tuesday, Lazio Roma and AS Roma were sanctioned for the behavior of their fans.
Lazio supporters chanted anti-Semitic chants during a game between the two sides in March, while AS Roma supporters chanted abusive slogans in a game on Sunday.
As a result, the Ultras section will be shut down, but it’s a suspended sentence as the team works together to identify the culprits. Lazio is known to have a fringe of neo-fascist supporters. The club already played without Ultras last January because of racist abuse against Samuel Umtiti and Lameck Banda, two black players from Lecce.
AS Roma have been fined €8,000 (CA$11,737) after fans called Sampdoria head coach Dejan Stankovic a gypsy. Rome coach José Mournho intervened to stop the chants.
reactions
As every time it happens, the reactions were numerous.
Serie A, which includes all the teams mentioned, assured that “clubs will be able to identify the culprits and ban them from their stadiums for life”.
For its part, Juventus said in a press release “that it is working with the police to identify those responsible for racist gestures and shouting.”
Several players reacted to the incident. From the number, Kylian Mbappé interfered on Instagram. “2023 and still the same issues but we won’t let you do this,” the Paris Saint-Germain star wrote under a photo of Lukaku with his finger over his mouth.
With AFP