Fiorentina released a statement calling for ‘severe measures from the Lega Serie A, CONI and Government’ after President Rocco Commisso was subjected to chants of territorial discrimination from Atalanta fans.
The incident occurred during this evening’s 1-0 Viola defeat at the Gewiss Stadium in Bergamo, a game decided by Ademola Lookman’s goal.
Both Atalanta and Fiorentina have American owners, although La Dea are still co-owned by the Percassi family.
“Today we witnessed a shameful incident, not from a single individual, but the entire end of the stadium,” wrote director general Joe Barone on the official club website.
“We fought racism in America and here in Italy there is an unacceptable situation. We don’t just want action from the Lega Serie A, but also the CONI and the Government.
“We are disgusted and await severe measures. The attention must be on a global level, we cannot keep pretending this doesn’t exist.”
In Italy, chants of ‘territorial discrimination’ against Southern Italians are treated the same way as racism or homophobia.
The Atalanta ultras chanted repeatedly during the game that Fiorentina President Commisso, who was born in Calabria and moved to America when young, was a ‘terrone’ – the insulting term for southerners.
Atalanta will no doubt point out that Fiorentina were already punished for the exact same insulting chants when they played against Napoli last month.
An investigation is expected and a fine is likely, or even the partial closure of the stadium for the section where the chants were audible.
And yet they are prepared to turn a blind eye to the incidents of the Napoli game….hypocrites.