Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK

RACISM

UN committee warns Italy over racist abuse in football

The United Nations committee responsible for combating racism singled out Italian football in its latest report on Thursday, saying attacks against black athletes were becoming "recurrent".

Published: 1 September 2023 09:29 CEST
Lukaku, Inter
Former Inter Milan forward Romelu Lukaku (pictured) was the target of racist abuse on multiple occasions last year. Photo by CARLO HERMANN / AFP

The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) raised concerns about economic or social issues in six countries including Croatia, Namibia, Senegal, Turkmenistan and Uruguay as well as Italy, where it singled out football.

Racist abuse aimed at players of African descent, or from Eastern Europe, in Italy’s Serie A attracted international attention in April with a one-match ban for Romelu Lukaku.

READ ALSO: Why do Italian football fans get away with racially abusing black players?

The striker received a second yellow card for celebrating a late equaliser for Inter Milan in an Italian Cup semi-final by turning to Juventus fans, who had been abusing him racially, and holding a finger to his lips.

After his initial one-match ban sparked an angry backlash, Italian football authorities pardoned the Belgian.

In January, another Serie A match was halted due to racist taunts aimed at France international Samuel Umtiti and his Lecce teammate Lameck Banda by visiting Lazio fans.

CERD said in its statement that as far as Italy was concerned it “was alarmed by politicians and high-level government officials using hate speech and racist political discourse against ethnic minorities, particularly Roma, Sinti and Camminanti, Africans and people of African descent.”

“The Committee also raised a red flag at racist acts during sports events, including physical and verbal attacks against athletes of African descent,” the statement continued.

“It asked Italy to investigate all racist abuses in sports and sanction those responsible.”

One of the members of the committee, Regine Esseneme, of Cameroon, urged Italy to “pay particular attention to these cases, which are becoming recurrent against black people and people of African descent, particularly in the context of football, so that the national legislation…is effectively applied, prosecutions are initiated and the perpetrators found guilty are punished.”

Racist abuse by football fans has been an issue in several countries in recent months with the repeated invective aimed at Real Madrid’s Brazilian striker Vinicius Junior in Spain being another high-profile case.

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.

PROTESTS

Protest staged in Milan over Winter Olympics

Activists protesting against the environmental impact of the 2026 Winter Olympics took to the streets of Milan on Saturday as part of a series of demonstrations against the Games.

Published: 11 February 2024 10:06 CET
Protest staged in Milan over Winter Olympics

Around 1,000 people marched on a soaking wet day in the northern Italian city to decry the building of infrastructure for the Milan-Cortina Games, including the event’s controversial bobsleigh track.

The march was organised by pressure group Unsustainable Olympics Committee, a network of hiking groups, environmental activists, heritage associations and left-wing political movements.

They contend the sporting event will have a negative impact on the environment in Italy’s mountains and the cost of housing in Milan, and have organised other, smaller protests over the last week.

“I’m here to defend the environment from an unsustainable model of development,” careworker Simona Antonioli, 29, told AFP.

“The mountains are increasingly becoming prey for speculators, and we also want more protection there.”

The Italian government announced earlier this month that the Games’ bobsleigh track would be built in Cortina d’Ampezzo, despite opposition from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and after organisers had announced that sliding events would take place outside Italy.

The IOC said that the 82-million-euro ($88.6-million) project may not being ready in time for the extensive testing needed before the Games, while having little long-term benefit to local residents.

Italian construction company Pizzarotti, the sole bidder for the contract, has 13 months to build a 1,445m-long (4,740-foot) track which includes 16 bends and requires complex refrigeration systems.

“The mountains are not an amusement park,” said protestor Alberto Di Monte, 38.

To “turn the mountains into a track is to have the wrong idea of what the mountains are.”

Events at the Winter Olympics will be spread widely across northern Italy, as well as in Milan and Cortina.

SHOW COMMENTS