The racist Juventus fans who hurled abuse at Inter striker Romelu Lukaku during the final minutes of yesterday evening’s Coppa Italia semifinal first leg against Juventus have come in for strong condemnation in Italian media.
The online edition of Turin-based newspaper Tuttosport condemns this behaviour in an editorial reacting to the incident, arguing that fans who engage in this type of racist abuse should not be allowed in football stadiums.
The scandalous racist chants aimed at Inter striker Lukaku will be an enduring sour note from yesterday evening’s Coppa Italia semifinal clash.
There is little ambiguity surrounding what happened, as video has emerged of some Bianconeri supporters making “monkey” chants at the 29-year-old following his goal celebration, and also clearly heard shouting “f*cking monkey.”
Italian football, as well as football more broadly, has been dealing with incidents of this nature for some time, and the fact that these kinds of sordid scenes are still allowed to occur is considered nothing less than scandalous.
The reaction to the incident has reflected this sentiment, with Inter responding with a statement condemning the racist abuse, whilst Roc Nation Sports International, who represent Lukaku, have also formally condemned the fans responsible in a statement.
Turin-based newspaper Tuttosport has joined them in responding to the incident by making clear the view that this type of behaviour from fans has no place in football and must be stamped out.
The newspaper argues of the fans that “These people shouldn’t be allowed to set foot in stadiums.”
Now, it will remain to be seen how the authorities decide to deal with this scandalous situation.
What can be safely presumed is that if and when the fans who were responsible for the racist chants are identified, they will receive stadium bans.
Then, it will remain to be seen what the more systemic response is to prevent incidents of this nature from occurring in the future.
