An Inter Milan supporters group has told Romelu Lukaku that monkey chants directed at him by Cagliari fans is not racist in Italy.
In a truly mind-boggling statement released by Inter’s Ultras from the Curva Nord, they claimed that racist comments towards Lukaku are a “form of respect” as opposition fans are “afraid of the goals you might score against them” and they urged Lukaku to “please help us to clarify what racism really is and that Italian fans are not racist.”
Lukaku, 26, issued a statement after the incident on Sunday, as videos clearly showed monkey chants being directed at him from Cagliari fans as he scored the winning penalty kick in the second half to send Inter Milan to the top of the Serie A table.
“We are really sorry you thought that what happened in Cagliari was racist. You have to understand that Italy is not like many other north European countries where racism is a REAL problem,” said L’urlo della Nord. “We understand that it could have seemed racist to you but it is not like that. In Italy we use some ‘ways’ only to ‘help our teams’ and to try to make our opponents nervous, not for racism but to mess them up.
“We are a multiethnic fans organisation and we have always welcomed players from everywhere. However, we have always used that ‘way’ with other teams’ players in the past and we probably will in the future. We are not racist and so are not the Cagliari fans. You have to understand that in all Italian stadiums people cheer for their teams but at the same time they use to cheer against the opponents not for racism but to ‘help’ their own team.”