Will racism ever end in Serie A?

My joke is better than yours

"I don't see in the Italian league a player like Lukaku in any team, not in AC Milan, Inter, Rome, Lazio. He's one of the strongest and I like him a lot because he's one of the strongest, he's at least twice as strong as (Duvan) Zapata from Atalanta. These players have something more than the others, these are the guys who make the goals and drag the team. If they go one-on-one with you you're dead, you fall to the ground. The only way to out-muscle him is to give him ten bananas to eat." – Luciano Passirani on TopCalcio24

Believe it or not, those were the exact words uttered by a football pundit live on Italian television. Passirani immediately apologized after being probed by the presenter which was however not enough to save his job. In his mind, he was probably heaping due praise on the Belgian international packaged in a "good old joke." Bigger picture wise, those few words go a long way in trying to understand the racism issue in the context of Italian football. Without further ado, let's get it!

Investigating the problem: some fans, players and the leadership

In recent weeks, the word Serie A has become regrettably synonymous with racism. It's perhaps the first thing that most keen followers of football news and events think of at the mention of the word. There is a reason for that. To people and watchdogs outside the Serie A, racism incidents have spiked in recent weeks and months whereas insiders need to be repeatedly pinched before they could wake up and smell that wretched coffee. Put simply, "racism doesn't exist in Italy," so do many insiders and the general fabric of society believes and adheres to; and that is why it's a problem that never seems to go away.

Lautaro Martinez of FC Internazionale celebrates his goal with his team-mate Romelu Lukaku during the Serie A match between FC Internazionale and Juventus at Stadio Giuseppe Meazza on October 6, 2019 in Milan, Italy.

(Oct. 5, 2019 - Source: Emilio Andreoli/Getty Images Europe

It rather continues to evolve in rearing its ugly head. You don't have to take my word for it, let's remind ourselves of how some people within the country and how they’ve explained the phenomenon.

"You have to understand that Italy is not like many other north European countries where racism is a real problem. We understand that it could have seemed racist to you but it is not like that. In Italy we use some 'ways' only to 'help our teams' and to try to make our opponents nervous, not for racism but to mess them up. Please consider this attitude of Italian fans as a form of respect for the fact they are afraid of you for the goals you might score against their teams and not because they hate you or they are racist." – Inter Milan Fan Group, Curva Nord

Number one, that was a statement from the infamous Italian fan group who sought to console their summer signing after monkey chants were directed at him, at Cagliari. Again, they seem to believe it's all simply just good banter. Let's look at another one.

“England identifies the players coming in and, if they are professional, they are allowed to play. Here, on the other hand, let’s say there’s [fictional player] Opti Poba, who has come here, who previously was eating bananas and now is a first-team player for Lazio … In England he has to demonstrate his CV and his pedigree.” – Carlos Tavecchio

So it's not just the fans who have a pretty good "sense of humor." The Italian Football Federation President between 2014-17 was eventually suspended for his comments but got back on the job and later fired. Not for his seeming despicable sense of humor but after Italy failed to make the 2018 World Cup finals in Russia, for the first time in 60 years. There are some players as who have reacted questionably in the wake of racism incidents.

Juventus defender, Leonardo Bonucci claimed that the racial abuse experienced by teammate Moise Kean at Cagliari was caused by the teenage forward as much as it was by the group of fans involved, though he later took back his comments after media backlash. “Kean knows that when he scores a goal, he has to focus on celebrating with his teammates. He knows he could have done something differently. There were racist jeers after the goal. Blaise heard it and was angry. I think the blame is 50-50. Moise should not have done that, and the Curva should not have reacted that way.” – Leonardo Bonucci

At least he mentioned they “were racist jeers.”

Sulley Muntari of Pescara react during the Serie A match between Cagliari Calcio and Pescara Calcio at Stadio Sant'Elia on April 30, 2017 in Cagliari, Italy.

(April 29, 2017 - Source: Enrico Locci/Getty Images Europe)

By getting instances where fans, leadership and players were involved, we understand that the issue has hardly been taken seriously, no wonder it seems to only get worse. After all, science and thought leaders have taught us that the first move in solving a problem, remains simply recognition of its existence. That's hardly been the case in Serie A.

Looking back at recent reported racism incidents

How far back in time do these issues and incidents go? Well, as far as time itself goes to the very beginning. In the 21st century alone, the instances are endless. In 2010, when Juventus played out to a 1-1 draw against Inter Milan with the latter earning a precious point that helped them win the Scudetto, Mario Balotelli was chanted at by a section of the Juve fans, "there is no black Italian," they shouted in the stands. So was Samuel Eto'o in 2010, Sulley Muntari in 2017. The former Ghanaian international in fact got a yellow card for complaining that he was hearing odd noises from the stands targeted at him while playing for Pescara again, at Cagliari. He eventually walked off the pitch in protest and got suspended for it. All of Blaise Matuidi, Moise Kean and most recently Lukaku have been reduced to just monkeys playing the soccer ball at Cagliari. Fiorentina's Dalbert was also recently targeted at Atalanta, Kalidou Koulibaly and the lists goes on and on and on like a song nobody wants to hear.

“It’s obviously not just in Europe but all around the world. There could still be a few stones that still need to be turned and in light of how much we have progressed as the human race to stop slavery and many other things, we should be encouraged to do more from where we are. Perhaps the simplest of things all of us can do is firstly recognize a damaging stereotype and then call it out.”

— Dennis Takaendesa, FirstTouch Africa

Giorgio Chiellini of Juventus embraces Kalidou Koulibaly of SSC Napoli at the end of the Serie A match between Juventus and SSC Napoli at Allianz Stadium on August 31, 2019 in Turin, Italy.

(Aug. 30, 2019 - Source: Emilio Andreoli/Getty Images Europe)

The league, players and everyone else’s response

How then have the authorities responded in the face of the seemingly unending scourge of racism that's tainting one of the best leagues in world football.

Not very impressive when it comes to the Serie A, who are responsible for reprimanding or letting loose the alleged perpetrators. The incident at Cagliari where Lukaku was involved for instance, was dismissed because of a "lack of evidence." In other words, the monkey noises weren't substantial enough for a case or they "actually never happened." The Serie A’s disciplinary judge overseeing the case, Gerardo Mastrandrea, even shied away from mentioning the word racism in his verdict. In fact, none of the incidents at Cagliari have ever been punished and we wonder why we see the same thing happening over and over again. Former Newcastle forward, the Senegalese Demba Ba took to social media to explain why he never played in the Serie A, in response to Curva Nord's annoying statement on Lukaku.

"And here's the reason why I decided not to play there when I could... And at that point I wish all the black players would get out of this league! Surely it won't stop their stupidity and hate but at least they won't affect other races." - Demba Ba, Istanbul Basaksehir

Other players such as the 2019 Best FIFA Women's Player of the Year, Megan Rapinoe called upon the football fraternity to take a stand and applauded Manchester City and Napoli players, Raheem Sterling and Kalidou Koulibaly for taking a firm stance and their proactivity in fighting one of society's ugliest beasts.

Anti-discriminatory body, Fare's executive director, Piara Power speaking to the BBC has lamented that "the rot is deep" in Italy and that the "authorities themselves are not fit for purpose." Fare's Eastern Europe Development Officer, Pavel Klymenko added that the problem goes past just the football circles. "This lack of understanding runs very deep. It is not just the ultras, it is the whole system of Italian football and consequently the society."

Other organisations such as KickItOut have also been quite vocal in calling out the Italian authorities and raising an awareness on the issue.

Beyond Italian borders

Yes, Italy may have been rightfully caught in the cross fire but racism also goes beyond the South Western European country's borders. Just recently in Eastern Europe where England thrashed Bulgaria by 6-0 in the Euro 2020 Qualifiers, the match was halted twice under UEFA's new protocol upon hearing monkey chants and seeing Nazi salutes in a section of the home fans directed at English black players, Tyrone Mings and Raheem Sterling. We witnessed almost the same pattern as in Italy with the Bulgarian coach denying that he heard any odd sounds during the match. The country's Primer Minister eventually went hard on the football leadership at the wake of bad publicity, forcing the Football Chief to resign.

Mario Balotelli (R) of Italy celebrates with team-mate Claudio Marchisio after scoring his team's second goal as Philipp Lahm of Germany shows his dejection during the UEFA EURO 2012 semi final match between Germany and Italy at the National Stadium on June 28, 2012 in Warsaw, Poland.

(June 27, 2012 - Source: Michael Regan/Getty Images Europe)

England also has had a fair share of its incidents, most recently Chelsea's Tammy Abraham and Aston Villa's Marvelous Nakamba racially abused on social media and during the matches. Perhaps, most telling is how the English FA seem to want to handle further racism cases going forward. Manchester City's Bernando Silva has recently been charged for racially joking with teammate Benjamin Mendy on social media. In their thought process, even simple jokes maintain some of society's undesirable stereotypes.

It's obviously not just in Europe but all around the world. There could still be a few stones that still need to be turned and in light of how much we have progressed as the human race to stop slavery and many other things, we should be encouraged to do more from where we are. Perhaps the simplest of things all of us can do is firstly recognize a damaging stereotype and then call it out.

How much longer?

As far as Italy is concerned, they have been very slow in understanding and combating the racism but there's certainly some hope. For instance, the Italian Football Federation President, Gabriele Gravina has recently spoken of how they are looking into VAR to help identify all perpetrators in the stands and a campaign involving one player from all 20 Serie A sides is being organized by the league. Sustainable results from all these are yet to be seen but the noise from outside, calling out Italy is definitely piling pressure on the inside and might work out for the greater good!