The fight against racism is centuries old but significant progress has been made.
One of the reasons for this progress is team sports, like football, that has brought people of diverse backgrounds together to compete and enjoy the game.
Seeing people of colour represent European countries like Germany, Finland and Poland was once unheard of, but it is the norm now thanks to the unifying spirit of football. Despite this progress in the sport, however, there are outliers, the biggest example of which is Italy.
The Italian national side has had a few people of colour represent them and so have the various Italian clubs. However, it does not stop the fans from fully expressing their disdain towards those who do not look like them.
The recent issue surrounding Inter Milan striker, on loan from Chelsea, Romelu Lukaku, is the biggest indication of this. In the Nerazzurri’s semi-final first leg tie against Juventus, he was targeted with racist chants by Juventus fans.
Whether the intention was to destabilise him and throw him off his game, or if it was just a genuine expression of hate is unknown. However, the Bianconeri fans went ahead to chant racist chants to which Lukaku responded with a gesture following his goal.
The gesture was deemed offensive and the Belgian was sent off and suspended for the return leg. Reports now claim that the punishment placed on Juventus – a partial stadium ban – has been lifted.
The reason, according to the reports, is that the club helped in identifying the culprits, two of which have been given stadium bans.
It seems like a let off for the Old Lady which could also send a wrong message to the rest of the league. The Serie A chiefs could be dealing with clubs who allow their fans to do whatever to players of colour on opposing teams for the sake of results. These incidents will be followed with already prepared statements and a stadium ban or two for some fans. It is a precedent they have unknowingly set.
Teams will no longer try to change the culture of racism in Italian football, an effort which will have a ripple effect on all of society. It is a blight which has also contributed to how the league is perceived among football fans outside the country.
The culture of racism in Serie A will never go away if teams can still operate at full capacity after incidents like Lukaku’s. We will keep looking forward with hope, however, to a Serie A where players can come and display their talents without fear of abuse.
