It was 1-1 as Romelu Lukaku geared up to take a penalty against Cagliari, as he did there were seemingly racist chants coming from some of the home crowd in an attempt to put the Inter striker off. It didn't and he scored what was eventually the winner of the night, with under 15 minutes to go in the second half.
However, last night wasn't the only time players have received this sort of abuse at the Sardegna Arena. Moise Kean for Juventus, who was just 19 at the time silenced some of the crowd by scoring against Cagliari just a few months ago, he has since moved onto sign for Everton in the Premier League.
Similarly, Maise Matuidi received racist abuse from Cagliari fans and none of these resulted in any sanctions against the Serie A team, nor any bans for fans.
Investigation necessary
The Serie A should investigate now before it gets out of hand. CCTV is readily available at stadiums such as theirs which offer a perfect way to identify fans guilty of such acts, while other fans should report it, record it and let it be known to staff at the club to again help identify those fans guilty of being racist.
The club and league should act soon before they get an even worse reputation than they already do. It could only be a matter of time before players and opposition fans refuse to let them get away with it by for instance: refusing to play against them.
It seems like a logical step too, that opposition teams like Juventus and Inter who have received this abuse should look out for their players and make a statement that this is not tolerable. What can happen is they play behind closed doors or refuse to play against guilty clubs at all in order to get the Serie A to act on these matters reasonably and effectively.
There has been numerous accounts of racial abuse in the UK too, Reading's striker Yakou Meite, and Manchester United players Paul Pogba and Marcus Rashford received abuse on social media within a week of each other.
Kick It Out even had to release a statement on the first week of the football league after many players also received inexcusable racial and discriminatory abuse.
The statement reads: "We are appalled to hear that the sister of Fulham’s Cyrus Christie was subjected to alleged violence and racist abuse on Saturday, with Southend United’s Theo Robinson, Stoke City’s James McClean and Barnsley’s Bambo Diaby targeted with unacceptable discriminatory abuse too.
“On the first weekend of the season, these incidents should be a reminder for everyone in football that racism and discrimination cannot be ignored. Clubs and the football authorities must be relentless in calling out this disgraceful behaviour, and be prepared to issue strong sanctions and education sessions to any supporter involved."
Future of the issue
It's not the first and probably won't be the last in a series of abuse in football, just a few years ago Chelsea was at the forefront of racism incidents in France, where the fans in question were convicted of racist abuse.
More certainly can be done in the Serie A and football as a whole. There could be harsher sanctions and education to those found guilty, and stricter surveillance to find those who do. Blanket bans may not be an answer but stadium bans are readily available for clubs to make a stand against fans who choose to do this.
