The Olympique de Marseille said Thursday night that it reserved the right to “file a complaint” after “suspicions” of racist screams from the public of the Lazio Roma during the Europa League match at Stadio Olimpico (0-0).
“Following the presumption of racist shouts against our players, the club recalls that it strongly condemns any form of discrimination. OM reserves the right to lodge a complaint in the event that UEFA confirms these serious allegations,” the club said in Twitter
Several journalists present in Rome said after the match they heard monkey cries emanating from the platform of the Lazio Roma fans, directed in particular to Senegalese striker Bamba Dieng, who came onto the pitch from the bench during the match.
Asked at a press conference, neither coach Jorge Sampaoli nor goalkeeper Pau López confirmed having heard such racist screams. “I did not listen,” replied the Argentine. As for the Catalan, he explained that “he had not realized it.” “It is true that when Dieng had the ball he was whistled a bit, but I don’t think it was done expressly. Cengiz Under and I, who were Roma players, were also whistled tonight, I think it was the same way, not differently on that, ”he said.
Lazio, which has a reputation for having decidedly fascist tifosi, has already been sanctioned (fines, closure of stands …) in the past by UEFA and the Italian Federation for the behavior of their supporters.
In mid-September, AC Milan denounced alleged racist shouts against its French midfielder Tiémoué Bakayoko, from the Laziali fan sector. In 2020, the Roman club was fined 20,000 euros for the racist screams sent by some of its followers to Mario Balotelli during a trip to Brescia. A similar case concerned, in 2016, the Senegalese defender of Naples Kalidou Coulibaly.
Racist incidents are recurrent in Italian stadiums: the Belgian Romelu Lukaku, the Ivorian Franck Kessié, the Brazilian Dalbert or the English Ronaldo Vieira have already been victims, like the French Mike Maignan this season.
A man suspected of having uttered racist insults against the AC Milan goalkeeper was effectively identified at the end of September and will have to respond to the hate speech.
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