Romelu Lukaku has pleaded with Serie A to act after suffering racial abuses during Tuesday’s Coppa Italia match against Juventus.
The former Manchester United striker celebrated in front of home fans in Turin and was given a second yellow card after scoring a last-second equaliser from the penalty spot.
“Tonight’s racist remarks made towards Romelu Lukaku by Juventus fans in Turin were beyond despicable and cannot be accepted,” Michael Yormark, president of Roc Nation Sports International said.
“The Italian authorities must use this opportunity to tackle racism, rather than punish the victim of the abuse,” he added.
The Belgian striker had been the target of alleged racist abuse during his first spell with Inter between 2019 and 2021.
“History repeats. I’ve been through it in 2019 and now in 2023 again. I hope the league really take actions for real this time because this beautiful game should be enjoyed by everyone.” Lukaku added.
The Serie A has launched their statement to ban a fan who creates any racial abuse during a football match.
“Serie A condemned in the strongest possible terms all cases of racism and any form of discrimination,” Italy’s top division said in a statement.
“A few people in the stands can’t ruin football and they don’t represent all the fans in the stadium. Those responsible should be identified and banned from the stadium for life.” they added.
While Juventus announced cooperation with the Italian police, as the club announced and confirmed its commitment to racism and discrimination.
Racism scandals are common in Italian football. Only last weekend the coach of Sampdoria Genoa was insulted, recently the fans of Lazio Rome attracted attention again with massive anti-Semitic chants.
In April 2019, Juventus player Moise Kean, faced racist abuses from Cagliari fans during a match there. He didn’t decide to walk off the ground, but decided to combat the racism a different way.
