Fresh Racism Controversy in Italy After Newspaper Headlines Inter vs Roma Preview as 'Black Friday'

Week in and week out, Italy is the focal point of all racism debates in the world of football. Just days after Serie A clubs wrote a letter to the fans saying they will strengthen the fight against racism, an Italian newspaper has sparked fresh controversy with a headline for the preview of the league fixture between Inter Milan and AS Roma.

Italian newspaper Corriere dello Sport, based out of Rome, headline its Inter vs Roma preview as 'Black Friday' and pitted it as a battle between two former Manchester United teammates and black footballers, Romelu Lukaku and Chris Smalling.

This headlines come in a season where Lukaku has been subjected to monkey chants at Cagliari by the fans for which the club did not even face any serious action. Also Hellas Verona fans racially abused Mario Balotelli, after which they received a partial stadium closure.

One of the teams in question, AS Roma, took to their Twitter handle to call out the headline and pointed out that it was unacceptable.

Roma's tweet was supported by another Serie A club ACF Fiorentina in the comments section while the Twitter handle of FARE (Football Against Racism in Europe) also spoke against the headline.

AS Roma's comment section was also flooded by people who called out the racism and described it as an institutional problem with the Italian audience.

Racist chants are considered a common occurence in Italian football and in fact when Inter player Lukaku was racially abused by Cagliari fans, Inter fans came out in support of their Cagliari counterparts and said they weren't meaning to be racist but just wanted to rile up the player like it happens in football banter.

Original news source