February 13 – Football has been struck by yet another episode of racism with Inter Milan fined €15,000 euros by the Italian league for abusive chanting by their fans towards Mario Balotelli who has just joined arch-rivals AC Milan from Manchester City.
The offensive behaviour took place during Inter’s 3-1 home win over Chievo on Sunday. Inter president Massimo Moratti was quick to condemn the abuse and urged fans not to repeat it at the hotly awaited Milan derby at the San Siro on February 24.
“I was told about it because I couldn’t make out clearly what they were saying. I’m very sorry about that,” Moratti said. “I’m very sorry and I really hope it doesn’t happen during the derby.”
It is the second high-profile case of racism involving the controversial Balotelli, who was rarely out of the news when at City, since the striker returned to Italy where he has scored three times in two games.
Paolo Berlusconi – brother of AC Milan president Silvio – was filmed using offensive language when referring to the international striker prior to his debut against Udinese.
The two instances have been especially highlighted in the wake of Milan midfielder Kevin-Prince Boateng famously walking off the pitch, and taking his teammates with him, during a friendly with Pro Patria after being subjected to racist abuse.
Meanwhile, Juventus have also been fined for offensive songs sung about rivals Napoli, who were also ordered to pay the same amount after a laser pen was used on a referee during a clash with Lazio.
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