Romelu Lukaku agent “ashamed” of ‘Black Friday’ headline and calls for stronger action against racism
The agent of Inter Milan striker Romelu Lukaku says he’s ashamed of Corriere dello Sport’s ‘Black Friday’ headline and urged Italian football institutions to take racism seriously.
The newspaper sparked outrage on Thursday when it published the headline alongside pictures of Lukaku and Roma defender Chris Smalling, ahead of Inter’s clash with the capital club in Serie A on Friday.
Lukaku has already been subjected to racist abuse this season, when he was the target of monkey chants by Cagliari fans in September.
And his agent Federico Pastorello called for more serious action to be taken after seeing Lukaku at the centre of another racism controversy.
“Being Italian I'm really ashamed to read a title like that but I really don't want to talk about a single episode," Pastorello told Sky Sports News.
"At the end of the day the racist problem is a big problem. Unfortunately we are living in 1920. It's really a culture problem.
"Being an agent we are trying to protect our clients from this huge problem because it's not only a newspaper but it's a problem you can breathe in the stadium, in social media, on the street.
"I think it's a problem that is a culture problem. What I would like and wish for the future is institutions could take it more seriously. There were some episodes in Champions League recently, also in Serie A games and the institution did not take so seriously the problem."
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When asked about Lukaku’s response, he said: "He is very sensitive on this problem. I like his attitude because he's facing it every time with strength and power.
"Not for him but the other players who are weaker than him and can't (impact on the issue).
"For sure he is not happy about that but he's strong enough to face it."
The editor of the newspaper, Ivan Zazzaroni, attempted to defend the headline with a post on the Corriere dello Sport website.
He wrote: "'Black Friday', for those who want to understand it and can understand it, was only praising diversity, taking pride in diversity, the magnificent wealth of diversity. If you don't understand it, it's because you can't do that.
"It's an innocent article, perfectly argued by (journalist) Roberto Perrone, that has been made poisonous by those who have poison inside them."
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Alasdair Mackenzie is a freelance journalist based in Rome, and a FourFourTwo contributor since 2015. When not pulling on the FFT shirt, he can be found at Reuters, The Times and the i. An Italophile since growing up on a diet of Football Italia on Channel 4, he now counts himself among thousands of fans sharing a passion for Ross County and Lazio.