Inter Milan striker Romelu Lukaku has been racially insulted by supporters of the hosts in Cagliari's Serie A match. Shortly before the execution of an eleven-meter monkey sounds sounded in the direction of the shooter.
The televisions that were clearly audible on TV broadcasts lasted for a few seconds after Lukaku converted the penalty to a 2: 1 final for Inter. The 26-year-old then stared furiously at the grandstand before he was celebrated by his teammates. Referee Fabio Maresca let the game continue despite the incidents without interruption.
FABIO MURRU / EPA-EFE / REX
Inters players celebrate Romelu Lukaku
Lukaku published an appeal against racism the following day on social networks. "Football is a game that everyone should enjoy, we can not tolerate any form of discrimination," wrote Belgium international. His team-mate Milan Skriniar, who had tackled the Cagliari fans' corner, said the day before, "I've heard things you should never hear in football, things like that should never happen."
Check out this post on Instagram
A post shared by Romelu Lukaku (@romelulukaku) on Sep 2, 2019 at 5:18 PDT
The attack of Cagliari supporters is not an isolated case. Already in April, the then playing for Juventus Moise Kean was also occupied by a monkey sound after a goal. The league had investigated the case at that time, but because of "objectively limited relevance" decided not to impose sanctions on Cagliari. The Frenchman Blaise Matuidi had also been racially insulted in Cagliari. Inter himself was sentenced to two ghost games because of racist chants of his followers against Naples Kalidou Koulibaly.
In view of hostility on the Internet, which black players recently saw increased exposure, Lukaku appealed to football associations and platforms to do more against racism. "Every day, you see at least one racist comment under a person-of-the-person post. We've been saying that for years, nothing was done." People of Color is a self-designation of people who have experience of racism.
Lukaku claims, "It's 2019. But instead of going forward, we're moving back in. I think we players need to band together and make a statement on that to keep the game clean and enjoyable for everyone."