In light of recent events, it is only right to highlight the significance of racism, or rather lack of it prevalent in the realms of Italian football.
The vice of racism is looked upon in every sphere of life, and is considered an immoral act.
Sadly, this wicked trait is still prevalent and surfaced in the recent derby clash between AS Roma and Lazio. Brazilian defender, Juan, was at the receiving end of the chants and verbal abuse. Juan was seemingly
dejected after the chants, and could only raise his finger to his mouth as the Biancazzurri fans directed their hatred towards him. There were a series of abuse levelled at the Roma defender, in particular monkey derision whenever the defender won the ball
from Lazio.
Roma fans did not take the moral highway and retorted against the Lazio verbal abuse by shouting out bigoted chants when http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Lazio-c39775 defender, Modibo Diakite, made way to the field.
The horror show at the Stadio Olimpico was a disgrace for footballing world, and the Federazione Italiana Giuoco Calcio (FIGC) made an official statement that the matter will be investigated. They also maintained
that they want to stamp racism out of the game, but they need to be more proactive. Even though Lazio were fined 20,000 Euros for their fans’ transgression, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Roma-c31603 were let off the hook.
What the FIGC needs to understand is that they need to come strong onto the proponents of racism within football, and not merely state their intent. There have been quite a few instances in Italian football
on racism in the recent past; however, there has been no improvement in Italian Football in this respect.
The most pertinent case of racism on a single player has to be against http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Mario-Balotelli-c23937, who has been ridiculed on countless occasions. The controversial star remained in the news for the wrong reasons, but
the scorn received by the Italian was unacceptable.
The reason for the extended taunts and jibes against Balotelli was because of his Italian nationality and his Ghanaian descent. He was born in Sicily and his parents were immigrants, who had migrated from
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Ghana-c2905. Juventus fans used to chant “If you jump up and down, Balotelli dies.”
The taunts thrown at the youngster were bigoted and full of scorn. The most provocative of the taunts were “there are no black Italians”.
There has not been any firm drive made by the FIGC towards the elimination of the seeds of racism prevalent in the game.
Upon further inspection it can be seen that http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Italy-c2926 is still a predominantly white country, with only 7.5% of its population immigrants. However, this percentage will only increase with time and if the roots
of such bigoted thought and mindset is not abolished, their inactiveness against this vice might come back to haunt them.
FIGC cannot be blamed in totality, because elements of racism are prevalent in the society at large. We have to realise that the people, who come to watch football are Italians, and if they show increasing
amounts of racist behaviour, it is a reflection on the society as well.
The Italian authorities have to consider efforts made by other countries in order to stamp out racism. The English Football Association comes down hard on the racist elements in the game, and considers racism
a crime. The German Football Association has not encountered many instances of bigotry in the Bundesliga, but they have a strict stance on the vice as well.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are the writer's own and in no way represent Bettor.com's official editorial policy.
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