Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Romelu Lukaku were sentenced to one match after a fight in the Coppa Italia in the Inter Milan vs AC Milan match at the Giuseppe Meazza Stadium, Wednesday (27/1).
Zlatan and Lukaku were involved in a commotion at the end of the first half of the Coppa Italia quarter-final match. As a result of the quarrel, referee Paolo Valeri gave a yellow card to both of them.
The two players who are former colleagues at Manchester United even almost got into a fight. Fortunately, both Ibrahimovic and Lukaku were able to be comforted by their respective teammates.
However, according to a report by Sky Sport Italia quoted from Football Italia, the Federal Prosecutor is still conducting an investigation into the possibility of discrimination in the fight.
The investigation is still being carried out because until now the prosecutor has not received a report from the referee regarding the contents of the statements of the two players in the commotion.
With a one-match penalty, Lukaku will miss the Coppa Italia semi-final first leg against Juventus, while Ibrahimovic will miss the Coppa Italia match next season.
Previously, the Italian Football reported that Lukaku was angry with Ibrahimovic because of the Swedish striker’s ‘babbling’.
“OK, call your mother,” said Ibrahimovic.
Ibrahimovic did not stop there, but also continued with a sentence about ‘voodoo’ which made Lukaku furious.
Quoting BBC Indonesia, the phrase voodoo is a cultural practice of West African tribal people who are often regarded as a belief because it has a spiritual element.
It’s no wonder why Ibrahimovic’s words are racial because Lukaku is of African, Congolese descent. Ibra’s words allegedly referred to the Lukaku incident at Everton specifically. The story begins when Lukaku received a contract offer from Everton and at that time he got a call from his mother.
According to Everton owner Farhad Moshiri, Lukaku refused the contract because his mother was enlightened by the voodoo ritual performed in Africa. The Belgian striker was told by his mother that he had to return to Chelsea from the ritual. Lukaku denied the story, but in the end followed his mother’s words to leave Everton, despite joining Manchester United for the 2017-2018 season.
The 27-year-old player who felt slandered then threatened to sue Moshiri. However, the legal process did not continue and the news only became big news at that time.
When the first half ended, Lukaku did not stop chasing Ibrahimovic. The Belgian striker continued to follow Ibrahimovic down the hallway to the dressing room and was blocked by his team mate.
Unfortunately for Ibrahimovic, the yellow card for making a fuss with Lukaku saw him red carded in the 56th minute after receiving a second yellow card for fouling Aleksandar Kolarov.
The Milan derby ended in a 2-1 win for Inter. Having taken the lead through Ibrahimovic’s goal in the 31st minute, Inter responded with a Lukaku penalty (71 ‘) and Christian Eriksen’s goal in the 90 + 7 minute.
