Romelu Lukaku Demands Action Against Racism
Inter Milan striker, Romelu Lukaku, has demanded that immediate action be taken in order to combat racism in football.
The 26-year-old Belgian, who was subjected to “monkey chants” from the crowd during Inter Milan’s 2-1 Serie A victory over Cagliari on Sunday, 1 September, says that right now football is “going backwards” with the issue.
Other footballers of colour, such as Moise Kean, Blaise Matuidi and Suller Muntari have all experienced similar abuse when playing against the Sardinian club.
In a post on Instagram, Lukaku said: “We’ve been saying it for years and still no action. Ladies and gentlemen it’s 2019. Instead of going forward we’re going backwards and I think as players we need [to] unify and make a statement on this matter to keep this game clean and enjoyable for everyone.”
Cagliari has vowed to identify and ban the “ignorant” individuals guilty of these “shameful actions”.
On Tuesday, the Italian league’s disciplinary judge, Gerardo Mastrandea, says he needed more evidence before deciding if Cagliari should be punished for the chants.
Meanwhile, a splinter of the Inter Milan ultras group ‘Curva Nord’ have insisted the monkey chants were not meant to be racist, but merely to make Lukaku “nervous”.
