Inter striker highlights Italian football’s
ongoing problems with racism
Romelu Lukaku
N
ewly arrived in
Serie A, Belgian
striker Romelu
Lukaku must
be wondering to
himself about the
mindset of some
Italian fans, and indeed commentators.
In only his second game since joining
Inter from Manchester United, the 26-
year-old was subjected to racist abuse
away at Cagliari as he stepped up to take
what turned out to be a match-winning
penalty in a 2-1 victory.
The next day, Lukaku aired his
frustration on Instagram, writing: “Many
players in the last month have suffered
from racial abuse. I did too yesterday.
“Ladies and gentlemen it is 2019
and instead of going forward we’re
going backwards.”
He spoke of the “shame” of racial
discrimination, calling on “football
federations all over the world to react
strongly on all cases of discrimination”.
Yet, the following Monday, the Italian
federation’s own sports judge ruled that
Cagliari had no case to answer in relation
to the monkey chants directed at Lukaku.
The sports judge’s report suggested
that, although “cries from individual
spectators” were heard as Lukaku
prepared to take the penalty, theywere not perceived either by the
federation’s own inspectors or by
the stadium security as [racially]
discriminatory. So, no fine for Cagliari.
Lukaku must have imagined the racist
abuse. As, presumably, did Juventus’
French midfielder Blaise Matuidi during a
game at Cagliari in January 2018. As did
Juve’s Moise Kean at Cagliari this March.
What was not imaginary, however, was
the comment made on local TV channel
Top Calcio 24 – which deals essentially
with Juventus, Milan and Inter – by
experienced commentator Luciano
Passirani. Offering an enthusiastic
appraisal of Lukaku, he said: “I think that
Lukaku is as good a player as Inter could
have bought.
“Right now, I don’t see a better player
in Italy in any team, not at Juventus, not
at Milan, nor Lazio nor Roma.
“I really like him as a player because
he is so strong, he is a carbon copy of
Zapata [of Atalanta]. He has something
that other players do not have and then
he keeps on scoring goals.
“Guys like him lift the whole team. In
the one-on-one situation, he just kills
you. If you try to tackle him, you end
up on the ground. Either you have 10
bananas wrapped around your waist
to give him to eat or just give up.”
Within hours, Passirani had beenHeadliners
Escape...Cagliari
fans (above) at the
Inter game, in which
Lukaku (right) scored
from the penalty spotAction...Atalanta
complain to referee
Daniele Orsato