The Italian league announced that it will close a part of the South Stand at Juventus Stadium for one match as a result of racist shouts from the Turin team’s “tifosi” against Inter Milan attacker Romelu Lukaku. Lukaku was the victim of these racist insults when he equalized with a late penalty in the Italian Cup semi final against Juventus on Tuesday in Turin. Serie A, which organizes the Coppa Italia, said the majority of fans in the south stand of the Allianz Stadium in Turin uttered these racist chants and that disciplinary action would be taken.
Lukaku’s celebration after the penalty he scored against Juventus earned him a second yellow card and therefore a sending-off. His red card was confirmed, and he will miss Inter’s next match due to suspension. In addition, Juventus’ Colombian midfielder Juan Cuadrado and Inter’s Slovenian goalkeeper Samir Handanovic were sent off after a confrontation at the final whistle and received punishments of three and one match suspensions, respectively.
Racial discrimination in soccer is an issue that has been the subject of debate in recent years and has led to the implementation of tougher disciplinary measures. The Italian league has established clear measures against this type of behavior and has said that it will not tolerate any type of racial discrimination in stadiums.