Something more must be done against racism, indicates Giorgio Chiellini
Juventus defender Giorgio Chiellini stated that he was ashamed of his roots as an Italian, after the racist abuse directed at the Napoli players in their match against Fiorentina on Sunday. The Italian also added that solutions have to be found to discourage racist abuse from the stands.
Italian football has been plagued by incidents pertaining to racist abuse directed from supporters towards players. Tiemoue Bakayoko and Frank Kessie were racially abused by Lazio supporters during the Serie A match between AC Milan and Lazio. Following the incident the federal prosecutors' office opened an investigation against Lazio following a complaint from AC Milan.
In a similar incident Napoli duo Kalidou Koulibaly and Victor Osimhen revealed on social media the racist abuse they were subject to in Sunday's 2-1 win against Fiorentina. Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa who is on loan at Napoli from Fulham was also reportedly targeted by the home fans in Florence. Koulibaly had admitted that racist fans must not be allowed into any stadiums forever while Osimhen called for supporters to understand how disgusting it was to hate an individual because of the colour of their skin.
The Florence club also expressed a statement condemning the racism that took place and revealed that the CCTV footage from the game would be submitted to the authorities to identify the culprits. Chiellini has come forward to bemoan the racist incidents that have sparked in recent times and believes that actions should be taken to discourage this behaviour.
"We need laws and rules that are applied. I was ashamed, as an Italian and a Tuscan, also because Italy is not a racist country for me. Something more must be done, otherwise from outside we give a bad image of ourselves," Chiellini told reporters ahead of Italy's game against Spain on Wednesday.