Italian clubs acknowledge racism is a ‘serious issue’
ALL 20 clubs in Italy’s top football league, Serie A, on Friday signed and posted on their websites an open letter to acknowledge that racism is “a serious issue” in the country’s stadiums.
“We must recognise that we have a serious problem with racism in Italian stadiums and that we have not fought it enough over the years,” the joint letter from the Serie A clubs reads.
“Also this season, the images of our football, in which some players have been victims of racist insults, have gone around the world, sparking debate everywhere. This is a source of frustration and shame for all of us.”
The letter said that in the past few weeks the clubs, the Serie A league, the Italian Football Federation and international experts have been having “constructive discussions” to “address and eradicate this problem”.
The clubs also acknowledged that “maybe we haven’t sufficiently fought [racism] in the past few years.”
Serie A chief executive, Luigi De Siervo, said that the league is “ready to lead the fight against racism inside and outside the stadiums”.
“Leadership, unity, action is what we need now,” De Siervo said in a statement accompanying the letter.
Earlier this month Verona were handed a one-game partial closure of their stadium following racist chants by some fans against Brescia’s striker Mario Balotelli during a Serie A game.
Balotelli, who was born in Sicily to Ghanaian parents before being adopted by an Italian family, has often reacted strongly to racial abuse.
A fine of €30,000s (R484 363) was also handed to Roma for the discriminatory chants against Neapolitans, during a contest between Roma and Napoli on the same day.