Joao Mario has called for a mentality change from Italy when it comes to tackling the issue of racism, particularly in football with there having been several high profile incidents this season.
“In Italy they need to change their mentality toward racism. Once they realise that there is a problem there, they can really change but at the moment they do not realise that it is a big problem,” he said in an interview with the Associated Press.
“It happens everywhere. It is sad, but it is true. It happens to me there, it happens to friends there too. It happens every day. They have to ban people, they have to start arresting people. They can really make a difference, it is a problem we have to take on seriously. Otherwise, we will continue to talk about it. We will continue to be sad about this.”
The Portuguese international is currently out on loan at Lokomotiv Moscow in the Russian Premier League. He has made 12 appearances across all competitions this season, scoring once and tallying four assists in the process.
