- Monkey chants made by some Juventus fans on Inter Milan star player Romelu Lukaku have rekindled a painful memory
- It was the fourth incident in his years in Serie A the first one coming in 2019 whent he was with Inter Milan
- Serie recently launched an investigation into claims that Napoli fans racially harassed Lukaku in January 2021
Monkey chants made by some Juventus fans at Inter Milan star player Romelu Lukaku have rekindled a painful memory of racism in football.
While Lukaku asked Italian football authorities to take action against the fans who unleashed racial attacks on him.
Lukaku scored for Inter Milan five minutes to the end of the game on Tuesday night to earn Inter a 1-1 draw in their Coppa Italia semi-final first leg.
What followed was monkey chants and other unprintable words by Juventus fans as Lukaku battled a second yellow card for his sarcastic saluting at the fans in celebration of his goal.
An agitated Lukaku took to Instagram Wednesday and posted that what happened on Tuesday was just history repeating itself.
“History repeats. Been through it in 2019… and 2023 again…I hope the league will take actions for real this time because this beautiful game should be enjoyed by everyone. Thank you for the supportive messages,” he wrote.
Fellow football players among them Thibaut Courtois, Vinicius Jr., Reece James, and Kylian Mbappe backed him in this call.
Romelu Lukaku. Photo/The New York Times
INTER MILAN CONDEMNS RACIAL ATTACKS ON ROMELU LUKAKU
Juventus has committed to suspending anybody found guilty, while Inter has denounced the abuse in a statement posted on their website on Wednesday.
“We want to firmly reiterate that we stand united against racism and all forms of discrimination. Football and sport must not only be a place for emotion but also for clear and shared values, and what we saw last night in the final minutes of the Juventus vs. Inter Coppa Italia semi-final in Turin has no place in our sport,” the statement read.
Inter said that it views everyone as equal despite their skin colour since 1908 which is why it is solidly behind Lukaku.
WAS ROMELU LUKAKU EVER SUBJECTED TO RACISM BEFORE?
The racist abuse in April 2023 directed at Lukaku by Juventus fans wasn’t the first incident of racism. He first encountered this while he was playing for in 2019 before his short stint with Chelsea.
He said that the sport was “going backwards” in September 2019 after Cagliari supporters taunted him with monkey chants after scoring for Inter Milan.
At the time, Lukaku urged social media corporations and the governing body of football to take tougher action against racial discrimination. As racism in football reached a “all-time high” in September 2021, Lukaku once more urged authorities to act.
Three years later, the same thing repeated itself. Serie recently launched an investigation into claims that Napoli fans racially harassed Lukaku in January 2021. It was the same script with monkey chants since he is black.
ROC NATION DEMANDS APOLOGY FROM JUVENTUS FANS
Representatives of the Inter Milan striker, Roc Nation, said that Lukaku celebrated his goal against Lukaku modestly and did not dishonour Juventus’ fans.
He placed his finger on his lips as a gesture of silence to the fans. According to Football Italia, Lukaku was also heard saying something to the Juventus supporters. He allegedly said “muto,” which is Italian for “shut up.”
Romelu Lukaku. Photo/Sky Sports
Roc Nation insisted that Lukaku acted modestly and he did not, in any way, instigate Juventus fans to unleash their bile on him.
The agency in a presser condemned the racist taunts. Roc Nation president Michael Yormack said what Juventus fans did was despicable and unacceptable.
“The racist comments uttered tonight by Juventus fans in Turin towards Romelu Lukaku were beyond reprehensible and cannot be accepted,” Yormack said.
He added that even before a yellow card was issued, Lukaku had endured a great deal of abuse and there was nothing wrong in how he celebrated. The Roc Nation head said Lukaku always celebrates this way which does not signify abuse.
His agency is now demanding an apology from Juventus and firm action taken by Italy’s football league on rogue Juventus supporters.
Yormack said time is due for the racist perpetrators to be punished.
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