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Benevento football captain apologizes for Instagram death posts

Benevento captain Fabio Lucioni on Wednesday apologized after posts on his Instagram account wishing death on those who imposed a one-year doping ban on him.

Benevento football captain apologizes for Instagram death posts
The posts were published on Instagram. Photo: Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP

Italy's anti-doping authority NADO banned the 30-year-old defender on Tuesday after testing positive for the steroid clostebol following Benevento's 1-0 loss to Torino in September.

Team doctor Walter Giorgione admitted he was to blame and he was also banned for four years by NADO for administering the steroid to Lucioni in a spray.

Posts appeared on Lucioni's Instagram account Wednesday in which he hoped that those responsible for his suspension “wake up tomorrow morning … frozen… and that to transport you mahogany boxes are needed”.

But the defender later posted a rectification, again on Instagram.

“I apologize personally and I want to clarify that the profile in question, is managed by third parties, who have been promptly dismissed. These words are neither my thoughts nor my way of behaving,” said Luciano.

 

A post shared by Fabio Lucioni (@fabio_lucioni5) on Aug 14, 2017 at 5:32am PDT

READ ALSO: Cagliari football club go unpunished for fans' racist abuse

Lucioni joined Benevento in 2014 and had helped the team from outside Naples move from the third division up into Serie A this season for the first time.

“I played all levels and finally got to Serie A when I was 30 years. My childhood dream has been taken from me,” the player said earlier Wednesday. “I was hoping for a different justice and will continue to fight this disqualification.”

Benevento reignited their campaign with two straight wins — their first ever in the top flight — just before the winter break.

They had previously broken a European record with 14 consecutive defeats from the start of the season before earning their first Serie A point in December when their goalkeeper scored an injury time equalizer against AC Milan.

They then lost another three matches in a row before running up home wins over Chievo and Sampdoria.

The Serie A tailenders now have seven points from 20 games going into Sunday's trip to Bologna and are nine points from safety.

READ ALSO: Balotelli sparks row by posing with a shotgun on Instagram 

RACISM

VIDEO: Spain’s La Liga reviews video of boy racially abusing Vinicius

Spain's La Liga on Monday said it was reviewing a video of a child making racist insults towards Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior during the 2-2 draw with Valencia at the weekend.

VIDEO: Spain's La Liga reviews video of boy racially abusing Vinicius

“We’re in the process of studying and analysing the facts from a legal standpoint to see what we can and should do,” La Liga sources said.

In a video published by a journalist for ESPN Brasil, and picked up by Spanish media, a boy sitting in a woman’s lap can be heard calling Vinicius a “monkey”.

The Brazilian scored twice for Madrid as his team recovered from two goals down at Mestalla on Saturday.

Vinicius raised his fist in a “Black Power” salute after the first of his two goals at a ground where he was racially abused last season. Valencia subsequently banned three people from the stadium for life.

The 23-year-old has become a symbol of the fight against discrimination in Spanish football after suffering racist abuse on many occasions, and he was jeered repeatedly by home supporters on Saturday.

Jude Bellingham was sent off after the final whistle against Valencia for protesting after the referee blew the final whistle right before the England midfielder headed home what he thought was the winning goal.

READ ALSO: Football star Vinicius highlights racist behaviour from Spanish fans

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