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https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/49738276

 

'Racism rot is deep' in Italian football, says anti-discriminatory body Fare

By Mandeep Sanghera

 

BBC Sport

 

Italian football authorities and their disciplinary systems to combat racism are "not fit for purpose", says the chief of anti-discriminatory body Fare.

 

The claim has been made after Cagliari were cleared of racist chanting towards Inter Milan striker Romelu Lukaku in a Serie A match.

 

Lukaku was subjected to monkey chants by Cagliari fans when he scored a penalty for his side in a 2-1 win.

 

"The rot is deep," Fare executive director Piara Powar told BBC Sport.

 

"We believe the Italian authorities and the disciplinary system is simply not fit for purpose.

 

"Whether it is the FIGC [italian Football Federation] or Serie A, they have failed to protect countless players from racism over the past year and have no meaningful response to the endemic racism in stadiums.

 

"There are no visible campaigns, no progressive fan leaders, as well as apathy and prejudice among the media.

 

"No-one is taking the issue seriously - no-one apart from the players, the victims themselves, and a few allies who have been courageous enough to stand up."

 

Serie A insisted it was "seriously and constantly engaged in activities against racism".

 

It added: "I can confirm our maximum effort to fight racism. We did a lot in the past and we'll do [a lot] in the future as we announced some days ago a campaign about this that we will develop in the next month."

 

The FIGC has been contacted for a response.

 

The Fare Network, an organisation trying to fight inequality in football, says it has contacted the Italian FA to try to work with it and is awaiting a reply.

 

In the meantime, Fare's work to combat racism in Italy involves working with a government agency, non-government organisations and other parts of society in the country.

 

Belgium international Lukaku said the abuse he suffered showed the game was "going backwards" and he hoped "the football federations all over the world react strongly on all cases of discrimination".

 

The report into the incident conceded that chants, shouts and whistles were directed at Lukaku by Cagliari fans, but said they were not sufficient in "size and perception" to merit punishing the club and its supporters.

 

Anti-racism charity Kick It Out said: "This is a cowardly decision from Serie A and the Italian FA, in response to disgusting racist abuse aimed at Romelu Lukaku.

 

"We can only assume that the Italian authorities do not care that they are effectively endorsing this behaviour.

 

"As they refuse to take action against repeated racist abuse by the same group of supporters, it's about time Uefa stepped in and showed some leadership."

 

This is the third time Calgliari have been investigated for alleged racist abuse in the past two years after cases involving Moise Kean, the Italy forward now at Everton, and his then Juventus team-mate, France international Blaise Matuidi, but no action was taken over any of the incidents.

 

'No basic understanding of racism'

A group of Inter Milan fans claimed Cagliari supporters were showing Lukaku a form of "respect" when they aimed monkey chants at him.

 

A statement from Inter fan group Curva Nord said "Italian fans are not racist" and the abuse was gamesmanship.

 

"It shows you that there is no basic understanding of what racism is and why what they do to black players is racist," said Fare Eastern Europe development officer Pavel Klymenko.

 

"There has to be a lot of educational efforts put in.

 

"This lack of understanding runs very deep. It is not just the ultras, it is the whole system of Italian football and consequently the society."

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https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/49713647

 

Italian TV station bans pundit Luciano Passirani for racist Romelu Lukaku comment

 

An Italian television station says it will not use one of its pundits again after he made a racist comment about Inter Milan striker Romelu Lukaku.

 

Speaking on TopCalcio24, Luciano Passirani said: "If you go one-on-one with him he will murder you.

 

"The only way to come up against him is maybe give him 10 bananas to eat..."

 

Programme director Fabio Ravezzani said, despite Passirani's "immediate apologies" that "he could no longer participate in our broadcasts".

 

Lukaku, who moved from Manchester United to Inter in the summer, helped his side to a 1-0 win against Udinese on Saturday.

 

"Mr Passirani is 80 years old and to compliment Lukaku he used a metaphor that turned out to be racist," added Ravezzani.

 

"I think it was a terrible lack of momentary lucidity.

 

"I cannot tolerate any kind of errors, even if momentary."

 

Lukaku was recently subjected to monkey chants by Cagliari fans when he scored a penalty for his side in a 2-1 victory.

 

Afterwards, the Belgium international said the abuse showed the game was "going backwards".

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They are getting rid of the League Cup in France.

 

I wonder will they do the same in England. I can see the arguments for and against at the very least they should get rid of the 2nd leg in the semi finals because I just hate 2 legs in cup competitions in general.

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They are getting rid of the League Cup in France.

 

I wonder will they do the same in England. I can see the arguments for and against at the very least they should get rid of the 2nd leg in the semi finals because I just hate 2 legs in cup competitions in general.

 

Just let PL teams opt out.

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They are getting rid of the League Cup in France.

 

I wonder will they do the same in England. I can see the arguments for and against at the very least they should get rid of the 2nd leg in the semi finals because I just hate 2 legs in cup competitions in general.

 

Just let PL teams opt out.

 

should just drop it as it is a crap competition. neeone goes to the games in the main.

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One less thing for anyone to win would not be a good thing in the long run. The domestic competitions feel pointless enough as it is. France getting rid will surely be very unpopular - Strasbourg won it last year, what hope for Strasbourg or even Lyon in their one horse race league?

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France are lucky as the Coupe de France is the maddest competition on Earth where logic has no place. That may well change though.

 

In England we do not have such luck RE: the FA Cup. Pieing off the League Cup would be an awful decision.

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