Juventus was given a partial stadium ban for its next home game in the Italian Cup after some of its supporters directed racist chants at Inter Milan striker Romelu Lukaku.
Lukaku was sanctioned with a second yellow card for
provoking Juventus fans by holding his finger to his lips as if to silence the
crowd after converting a stoppage-time penalty to earn Inter a 1-1 draw in the
first leg of the semifinals on Tuesday.
Lukaku was suspended for the second leg of the semifinals on
April 26 by the Italian league judge on Thursday.
Lukaku’s gesture enraged the opposing team and the game
ended in a scuffle between the two squads, with Juventus winger Juan Cuadrado
and Inter goalkeeper Samir Handanovic also sent off.
Cuadrado was banned for three matches while Handanovic was
banned for one game. Each player was fined 10,000 euros ($11,000).
Part of the southern end of the Allianz Stadium will be
closed for Juventus’ first home game in next season’s Italian Cup.
Juventus said it would collaborate with authorities to
identify the fans responsible while Lukaku’s management company reacted with
outrage to the yellow card handed to the center forward.
“The Italian authorities must use this opportunity to tackle
racism, rather than punish the victim of the abuse,” Roc Nation Sports
International president Michael Yormark said.
Lukaku, who is Black, has been subjected to racist chants on
numerous occasions during his two stints at Inter.
Fiorentina beat Cremonese 2-0 in the first leg of the other
semifinal series.
The final is scheduled for May 24 in Rome.
The incident involving Lukaku comes amid an uptick in racism
in European soccer following a lull during the coronavirus pandemic.
Also Thursday, Leipzig defender Benjamin Henrichs published
hateful messages, including racist abuse, that he received on Instagram
following his team’s 2-0 win over Borussia Dortmund in the German Cup.
Henrichs posted a video on TikTok in which he referred to
Wednesday’s victory and says “I’ll show you what my DMs look like,” before
displaying a series of messages of threats and abuse against him and his
family.
One message had only monkey emojis, another called him the
N-word, while another threatened to “find you and your family.”
The 26-year-old Henrichs, who is Black, was born in Germany
and has made seven appearances for the country’s national soccer team.
Back in Italy, Lazio was also given a suspended partial
stadium ban this week after some of its fans directed antisemitic chants at
Roma during the city derby last month.
The Serie A judge ordered the Curva Nord, the northern end
of the Stadio Olimpico where Lazio’s hard-core “ultra” fans sit, to be closed
for a game but suspended the sentence in consideration of Lazio’s decision to
hand out three lifetime bans to involved spectators.
If there is another case of fan misbehavior over the next
year, Lazio will be ordered to serve the one-game partial stadium ban in
addition to any new penalties.
One fan who wore a shirt with a reference to Adolf Hitler at
the derby and two others who performed Roman salutes, which are associated with
fascism, were banned for life by Lazio.
On Tuesday in Spain, Real Madrid forward VinÃcius Júnior
testified against a Mallorca fan accused of racially insulting him at a Spanish
league game, saying he will not accept an apology.
The 22-year-old VinÃcius has been subjected to insults since
arriving in Spain five years ago. The Spanish league, which was among the
accusing parties against the Mallorca fan, has filed several formal complaints
to authorities over insults against the Brazilian, with some of them being
shelved.
The league recently increased the number of monitors at
matches to identify perpetrators when VinÃcius plays.
The attacks against the Brazilian increased after he began
celebrating his goals by dancing. -AP
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