Inter Milan fans have claimed that the monkey chants aimed at Romleu Lukaku by Cagliari supporters were not “racist” but a form of “respect”. Lukaku, who joined Inter from Manchester United this summer, was targetted with racist chants after scoring the winning goal in Inter’s 2-1 victory against Cagliari in Serie A. But a fan group, named Curva Nord, in an open letter to the Belgian claimed that Lukaku had misunderstood the Italian fan culture. “Italian fans are not racist,” the fan group proudly stated. Racist chants are a “form of respect” and gamesmanship in Italy. Romelu Lukaku Responds to Criticism Over His Weight.

"We are sorry you thought what happened in Cagliari was racist,” the open letter proudly claimed. “You have to understand that Italy is not like many other north European countries where racism is a REAL problem.” Lukaku had spoken out strongly against racism following the Cagliari game. Football is “going backwards,” said the 26-year-old forward in an Instagram post.

Romelu Lukaku Issues Statement on Racism

 

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“Many players in the last month have suffered from racial abuse ... I did yesterday too. We’ve been saying it for years and still no action. Ladies and gentlemen, it’s 2019. Instead of going forward we’re going backwards and I think as players we need to unify and make a statement on this matter to keep this game clean and enjoyable for everyone,” he added.

Meanwhile, the Internazionale fan group further stated that “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. We are a multiethnic fans organisation and we have always welcomed players from everywhere. However, we have always used that ‘way’ with other teams’ players in the past and we probably will in the future. We are not racist and so are not the Cagliari fans.

You have to understand that in all Italian stadiums people cheer for their teams but at the same time, they use to cheer against the opponents, not for racism but to ‘help’ their own team. 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 Fans Reply to Romelu Lukaku on Racism

“True racism is a completely different story and all Italian football fans know it very well. Lukaku was racially abused while preparing to take the penalty in the 72nd minute, which eventually proved to be the winner.

The Curva Nord fan group continued, “When you declare that racism is a problem to be fought in Italy you just help the repression against all football fans including us and you contribute to create a problem that is not really there, not in the way that is perceived in other countries. We are very sensitive and inclusive with all people.

"We guarantee you that in our organisation there are many fans of different races or fans coming from other parts of Italy that also use these ways to provocate [sic] their opponents even when they have the same races or are coming from the same areas.

“Please help us to clarify what racism really is and that Italian fans are not racist. The fight to REAL racism has to begin in schools, not in the stadiums, fans are just fans and they behave in different ways when inside the stadium as opposed to when they are in real life.

“I guarantee you that what they do or say to an opponent player of another race is not what they would ever say to someone they would meet in real life. Italian fans may not be perfect and we can understand your frustration with these expressions but they are definitely not meant to be racist.”

Earlier, young Juventus forward Moise Kean suffered similar racist abuse when facing Cagliari last season in the domestic league. But the league authorities refused to take any action against the Cagliari supporters. Blaise Matuidi is also said to have been abused racially when playing for Juventus.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 04, 2019 05:54 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).