The Italian Serie A has condemned the racial abuse directed at Romelu Lukaku during the first leg of Inter Milan’s Coppa Italia semi-final match against Juventus on Tuesday night.
WITHIN NIGERIA had reported that Juventus fans made monkey chants at Romelu Lukaku during the game which ended 1-1.
Lukaku was fouled in the penalty box in the dying seconds of the game, earning Inter a penalty when they trailed Juventus by a goal.
Fortunately, Lukaku stepped up and converted the penalty kick to force a 1-1 tie.
Immediately after scoring, he ran to the side of the Juventus fans and placed his finger on his lip, as if to tell them to “shut up.”
The referee then took that as incitement and showed Lukaku a second yellow card before sending him off.
The referee’s decision infuriated Inter Milan players, who felt that if any group should be punished, it should be Juventus fans for racially abusing Lukaku throughout the game.
The Italian Serie A responded to the incident by emphasizing that the clubs would seek out and punish the fans who abused Lukaku.
The league’s statement reads;
Serie A strongly condemns all instances of racism and any form of discrimination.
A few people in the stands can’t ruin football and don’t represent all the fans at the stadium… Serie A clubs will, as they always have, be able to find the individuals responsible and ban them for life from their grounds.