Milan baffled as stadium bans hit Italy
10 Oct 2013 4:55 AM IST
Italian football’s long-standing problem reappeared last weekend when visiting Milan fans reportedly targeted two of Juventus’s black players, Frenchman Paul Pogba and Ghanaian Kwadwo Asamoah, with racist chanting.
Milan went on to lose 3-2 and the Rossoneri’s woes -- they are currently 12th, 13 points behind leaders Roma -- deepened when disciplinary officials slapped a one-match stadium ban on the club.
In accordance with UEFA rules which have been adopted and interpreted by the Italian football federation (FIGC), Milan will now play their next game, against Udinese in a little under a fortnight, behind closed doors. The sanction, handed down after the chanting was deemed by FIGC disciplinary chiefs to fall under ‘territorial discrimination’, has been employed under various guises this season.
Both Roma and Lazio, as well as Inter and Milan, have been forced to close sections of their grounds following similar incidents.
But Galliani, whose club has several black players on its books -- including Ghanaian Sulley Muntari and Italy striker Mario Balotelli called on the authorities to find an alternative sanction. ‘I’m fully aware that racism is a major problem, it’s a a worldwide one,’ Galliani said.
‘We need to abolish the rule. Even all the (club) presidents agree on that and I’ve called (FIGC president) Giancarlo Abete to tell him that. No one even heard the chants. No television channels or newspapers wrote about it,’ claimed Galliani.
Milan went on to lose 3-2 and the Rossoneri’s woes -- they are currently 12th, 13 points behind leaders Roma -- deepened when disciplinary officials slapped a one-match stadium ban on the club.
In accordance with UEFA rules which have been adopted and interpreted by the Italian football federation (FIGC), Milan will now play their next game, against Udinese in a little under a fortnight, behind closed doors. The sanction, handed down after the chanting was deemed by FIGC disciplinary chiefs to fall under ‘territorial discrimination’, has been employed under various guises this season.
Both Roma and Lazio, as well as Inter and Milan, have been forced to close sections of their grounds following similar incidents.
But Galliani, whose club has several black players on its books -- including Ghanaian Sulley Muntari and Italy striker Mario Balotelli called on the authorities to find an alternative sanction. ‘I’m fully aware that racism is a major problem, it’s a a worldwide one,’ Galliani said.
‘We need to abolish the rule. Even all the (club) presidents agree on that and I’ve called (FIGC president) Giancarlo Abete to tell him that. No one even heard the chants. No television channels or newspapers wrote about it,’ claimed Galliani.
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