By Andrew Warshaw
May 12 – Despite increasingly tough penalties in their own competitions from both FIFA and UEFA, at domestic level instances of racism in Europe appear to show no sign of decreasing as, for the third week in a row, a major league has been blighted by discrimination.
In the latest case, AC Milan’s Kevin Constant had bananas thrown at him during the 2-1 defeat at Atalanta at the weekend.
The Guinea international was singled out by a section of home supporters in the second half and showed the offending fruit to the match officials, with team-mates Philippe Mexes and Nigel de Jong both seen sarcastically applauding the culprits. Fans were then warned over the loudspeaker that further incidents would lead to the game being suspended.
“Whoever threw the banana on the pitch deserves to have a coconut thrown back at them,” Atalanta manager Stefano Colantuono told Gazzetta dello Sport. “They’ve ruined what was a great afternoon.”
“I can only compliment my team because they continued playing,” said Milan boss Clarence Seedorf. “I don’t need to comment on the rest. Constant and his team-mates reacted in the best way by carrying on with their work. I hope they find the culprit and do what they have to do.”
Fans in Spain, Italy and various parts of the Balkans and eastern Europe are frequently the guilty parties. A similar incident involving Barcelona’s Dani Alves last month, pictures of which were flashed around the world when he picked up a banana thrown at him and took a bite, saw Villarreal fined €12,000 while La Liga officials have yet to decide whether Champions League finalists Atlético Madrid will be punished after supporters made monkey gestures towards Levante midfielder Papakouli Diop.
Fifa president Sepp Blatter called on the Italian Football Federation to take action after the latest incident.
He has also demanded a response from the Russian Football Union after a Dinamo Moscow player was punched by a fan during the abandoned match against Zenit St Petersburg.
“Racism, and games stopped/abandoned due to acts of hooliganism. Each federation needs to act. Sanctions are available & HAVE to be applied,” Blatter tweeted.
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