Serie A 2019/20: Romelu Lukaku believes football is going backwards in fight against racism
What's the story?
Inter Milan's Romelu Lukaku has said that football is going backwards in a fight against racism after being subjected to racial abuse in the clubs 2-1 victory against Cagliari on Sunday.
In case you didn't know...
Lukaku joined Inter Milan for a club-record £73 million from Manchester United earlier this summer. The Belgium international has already scored two league goals since making the switch, including one from the spot in Inter's 2-1 win against Cagliari at the Sardegna Arena on Sunday.
However, the 26-year-old was abused racially while he was preparing to take the penalty, which will be investigated by Serie A in the upcoming days. Moise Kean, Blaise Matuidi and Sulley Muntari have also suffered racist chants from the crowd at the Sardegna Arena in the recent past.
The heart of the matter...
Lukaku took to the social media, urging football federations to take strong actions on all cases of discriminations.
He said:
"Many players in the last month have suffered from racial abuse ... I did yesterday to.
"Football is a game to be enjoyed by everyone we shouldn't accept any form of discrimination that will put our game in shame. I hope the football federations all over the world react strongly on all cases of discrimination!!!"
Social media platforms [Instagram, Twitter, Facebook ...] need to work better as well with football clubs because everyday you see at least a racist comment under a post of a person of colour."
He also calls for players to unify to keep the game clean and enjoyable for everyone.
"We’ve been saying it for years and still no action.. Ladies and gentleman 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."
What's next?
Cagliari have released a statement on Monday condemning the chants and have also declared to take action against those responsible. Further, anti-racism organisation Kick It Out and social media giant Twitter are also working together in order to find a solution for racial abuse on online platforms.