"Monkey cries", insults... The Belgian international of Inter Milan was the target of racist insults at the time of equalizing on penalty, at the end of the semi-final first leg of the Coppa Italia against Juventus (1-1), according to several videos.

"Big Rom" was sent off just after, warned a second time after celebrating the goal in front of the Turin fans' stand, with his finger over his mouth.

Roc Nation Sports International, the agency managing his communications, said Lukaku did not want to provoke opposing fans with the gesture, which he had already used to celebrate his goals.

"Romelu deserves an apology from Juventus (...). The Italian authorities must use this opportunity to fight racism, rather than punish the victim," she said.

"History repeats itself. (...) I hope the league will really act this time," Lukaku wrote on Instagram, referring to previous racist cries against him in Cagliari in September 2019, unsanctioned.

Inter Milan expressed its "solidarity", as Chelsea, the club to which the striker belongs who will celebrate his 30th birthday in May.

Support from Mbappé

Brazilian Danilo, captain of Juventus on Tuesday, did the same, saying that "any act" racist "must be harshly condemned". Juve said it was "working with the police to identify those responsible for racist gestures and cries".

Inter Milan's Belgian striker Romelu Lukaku, ruled out against Juventus, in the semi-final first leg of the Coppa Italia, on April 4, 2023 in Turin © Marco BERTORELLO / AFP

The Serie A League assured that "clubs will be able to identify the culprits, excluding them for life from their stadiums".

Abroad too, messages of support have poured in, including that of Kylian Mbappe: "2023 and always the same problems, but we will not let you do it," launched the captain of the Blues on Instagram, with a photo of Lukaku, finger on the mouth.

Fifa president Gianni Infantino described the insults against the Belgian as "simply unacceptable", advocating "strict sporting sanctions" to "have a deterrent effect".

Italy does not discover racism in stadiums with this umpteenth incident, occurred in an enclosure where AC Milan's French goalkeeper Mike Maignan was insulted in September 2021. But it comes in a tense context with the multiplication of incidents, racist or not, involving tifosi.

On Tuesday, Lazio Rome and AS Rome were sanctioned for behavior of their supporters: anti-Semitic chants in March concerning the Laziali, insulting slogans Sunday for the Giallorossi.

Mourinho's intervention

Lazio has been sentenced to the closure of its sector reserved for "ultras", sanction suspended because of the "collaboration" of the club with the authorities to identify the culprits.

Known for hosting a fringe of neo-fascist tifosi, the club has already played a match without its "ultras" in January, after racist cries from supporters against black Lecce players Samuel Umtiti and Lameck Banda.

Roma was fined 8,000 euros, a light penalty thanks to the gesture of Jose Mourinho: the coach intervened to silence the cries of supporters calling his counterpart of Sampdoria, the Serbian Dejan Stankovic, "gypsy".

"Mourinho has taught a lesson, it should now be followed," said Gazzetta dello Sport in an editorial, regretting that Serie A players, "most often prefer to lower their heads and close their eyes".

The Italian footballers' association noted last season an increase in cases of threats, intimidation or insults against players, according to a report published in February (121 cases in total, two-thirds of them in Serie A).

To these rising incidents are added violence between "ultras": fans of Napoli and Roma were banned from traveling for two months at the beginning of the year after clashes on a motorway in January.

© 2023 AFP