• Live
    • Audio Only
  • google plus
  • facebook
  • twitter
News > Italy

FIFA President Urges Italian Football to React Against Racism

  • FIFA President Gianni Infantino urged Italian football authorities to take the issue more seriously.

    FIFA President Gianni Infantino urged Italian football authorities to take the issue more seriously. | Photo: Reuters

Published 22 September 2019
Opinion

"You need to identify those responsible and throw them out of the stadiums. You can't be afraid to condemn racists," FIFA's president said. 

FIFA President Gianni Infantino urged authorities to hand out stadium bans for supporters guilty of racism after another incident in a Serie A match between Atalanta and Fiorentina Sunday.

RELATED:

Rights Group Accuses FIFA of Ignoring Israeli Ban on Palestinian Footballers From Gaza

"Racism is combatted with education, condemnation, and discussion," said the FIFA chief, who was a guest on a program aired by Italian state broadcaster Rai. 

This comes as Sunday's game was briefly stopped after Fiore's Brazilian player Henrique Dalbert told referee Daniele Orsato he had been the target of racist abuse from fans at the Stadio Ennio Tardini in Parma, where Atlanta's team is based while their ground is renovated.

The referee ordered a warning to be read over the stadium's loudspeaker after the chants were apparently made by Atalanta fans towards the Brazilian player. Atalanta fans have been accused of racism before.

Infantino underlined the importance of "identifying those responsible of racist conducts and throw them out of the stadiums, we need to combat them until they stop, we can't have racism in society or in football, and in Italy the situation hasn't improved much lately."

Inter Milan's Romelu Lukaku and AC Milan's Franck Kessie have also been targeted this season but no club has been punished by the league judge.

Comment
0
Comments
Post with no comments.