DEMBA BA HAS expressed his sadness and anger after Inter’s Curva Nord ultras penned an open letter to Romelu Lukaku over allegations of racism against Cagliari supporters.
During his second outing for the Nerazzurri since a club-record move from Manchester United at the start of August, Lukaku was presented with the chance to score his second goal of the season from the penalty spot.
The Belgian striker scored from 12 yards to give Inter a 2-1 win at Cagliari but was subjected to monkey chants from a section of the home crowd before and after the spot-kick.
Lukaku called on football’s governing bodies to do more to combat racism after the match, while also urging his colleagues to help “unify” against discrimination.
Cagliari are no strangers to allegations of racist abuse, with the likes of Sulley Muntari, Blaise Matuidi and Moise Kean also victimised in recent years.
However, Inter’s Curva Nord faction has defended the actions of Rossoblu supporters, writing directly to Lukaku to outline their own perception of racism .
Former Chelsea striker Ba, who now plays in Turkey for Istanbul Basaksehir, was astonished by the letter and wishes “all black players would get out of Serie A”.
The 34-year-old responded to Curva Nord’s comments on Twitter: “And here’s the reason why I decided not to play there when I could… And at that point, I wish all the black players would get out of this league! Surely it won’t stop their stupidity and hate but at least they won’t affect other races.”
Racism has also been prevalent in the Premier League at the start of the 2019-20 season, with Chelsea’s Kurt Zouma targeted by fans on social media along with Manchester United duo Marcus Rashford and Paul Pogba.
Twitter and Facebook agreed to meet with United officials and anti-racism organisation Kick It Out after hateful messages were directed at Pogba, with a discussion set to take place on how best to tackle racism online in the future.
Chelsea striker Tammy Abraham was also singled out by a group of fans after missing a decisive penalty in a shootout defeat against Liverpool in the UEFA Super Cup final on 14 August.
Blues boss Frank Lampard has encouraged social media platforms to put a better policing system in place, insisting it is “far too easy” for supporters to “spout hate” online.
The42 is on Instagram! Tap the button below on your phone to follow us!
Can’t really say I am surprised. Thought we might have a proper game 15 minutes in, but Leinster ooze talent, and just strangled our game. I would say Fitzgerald is a lovely footballer on front foot ball, but he takes the ball a bit too deep for my liking, and it ends up with all the players being smashed behind the gameline – against Leinster, that’s kamikaze. I feel if we had played Leinster two weeks ago we would have had a better chance, as they were clearly focused on a bigger prize, whereas this was a wounded Leinster restoring pride. Munster next, and I expect it will again be a bit of a mixed up squad for Connacht versus a first choice Munster squad at home full of Saffa bruisers playing like it’s the Heineken cup final. Not looking forward to it.
@Joe Vlogs: the year Connacht won the league they had a team of guys that were lucky to avoid injury for the most part of that season. That same core of players every game won them the league. They’ve a really small squad and when your missing as many players as they were last night it’s going to be hard for them to compete, but on they’re day they can beat anyone.
Does anybody know what the status is on Tom Farrell’s knee injury?
@Aidan Prior: just regarding our league winning season I think you’re totally off the mark. While we had a few key guys, nobody bar Bealham played every game, and he started the season at loosehead due to an injury to Buckley, and was behind White at tighthead until his injury. We managed rotation as any team does, I wouldn’t think we had a core of players any more or less than we’ve had any other season, we swapped in and out 4 different fly-halves all season, the difference was when we had a few of the non-first team lads out they performed. We had injuries to guys at key points of the season but just got on with it. I think we had some luck, but we had a far superior coaching set up, and attitude within the squad. That’s not to go hard on the current guys it’s just the reality.
@Joe Vlogs: it wasn’t full strength v Ulster and it won’t be against Connacht. You can also rest assured that they won’t be treating a match against Connacht like a Heineken Cup final. As for the South African comment, you sound like you’ve a chip on your shoulder.
@Joe Vlogs: Cloete was the only staffer that started against Ulster but you couldn’t really call him a bruzzer
@Joe Vlogs: Connacht started 8 from Leinster, 3 from Australia, 3 from Connacht and a Munster man. You really think you can have a go at Munster who started just 1 SA and started 11 from Munster?
@Joe Vlogs: cry more
@Aidan Prior: we had an injury crisis the year we won the Pro14, we couldn’t name a full bench in a Challenge Cup game away to Falcons week before Xmas. In New Year Carty got injured in Dubai, and MCGinty got his break.
Fundamental difference is calibre of squad overall, experience/physicality wise, likes of Muldowney, White, McCartney Naoupu. Friend has to cover lack of quality in squad filling with guys who’ve not completed full academy terms, saw it in immaturity of reverse penalty Murray conceded kicking the ball after bad lineout that lead to 2nd try and implosion. Then you’ve got guys like Oliver who didn’t make it at Munster most likely because of lack of game intelligence, all energy but does stupid stuff all the time, real momentum killers.
@Patrick Breen: of course I’m not saying that they played the same team every week but they had a close knit group of about 25 solid players that were there there abouts all season. The had a good attacking backline, a steady OH, and a capable pack. The loss of Muldowney, McGinty and Hendshaw was massive. Then this year the loss of Roux, Farrell, O’Brien and Bundee for the most part has been really felt. I don’t think they’ve been able to once field their best 15.
Connacht lineout used to be an issue and has been resolved but cant say the same for attacking or defending maul. Maul defense is shocking and thought we would have improved since the dragons schooled us in it. All credit to leinster but no excuse for try count of 8-2 and could have been worse.