Minister for Sport Andrea Abodi offered an apology to Juventus striker Dusan Vlahovic after he received vile abuse from Atalanta fans and hit back at coach Gian Piero Gasperini’s attempts to argue it wasn’t racist.
The incident occurred during the final 10 minutes of the 2-0 Bianconeri victory in Bergamo and only got stronger after Vlahovic scored a fantastic goal into the top corner.
He put his finger to his lips just for a moment to silence the crowd and was shown a yellow card, as is the protocol for ‘provocative’ goal celebrations, regardless of context.
Minister for Sport Abodi wrote a message on his social media account this evening.
“My no, our NO TO RACISM cannot, must not and does not wish to have a colour, whether it is of a jersey or of skin, it is not just about a religion or a people: it always matters!
“Just like RESPECT: it always matters! And those who get it wrong must answer for their actions, always and in every case. Our apologies to Dusan Vlahovic!”
It may well have also been a pointed response to the comments from Atalanta coach Gasperini, who tried to argue that his fans were not being ‘racist’ in repeatedly calling Serbia international Vlahovic a ‘gypsy.’
“I condemn the chants, but I also have to point out that Atalanta have Pasalic, Djimsiti and others who are of that ethnicity, while we had players in the past like Ilicic and Sutalo,” Gasperini told Sky Sport Italia.
“At times, insults are due to other things. Racism is serious, it must not be confused with mere insults. It is an insult when people shout ‘son of a bitch’ or ‘piece of s**t’ too, but is that an individual insult or a racist one?
“We must fight racism, but let us not confuse it with bad manners, which is a more general and wider issue.”
Gasperini also spoke to DAZN, who pushed back more on his attempts to reason away the abhorrent behaviour of the Atalanta ultras.
“If it was racism, they’d be insulting Pasalic too. Often there are insults in a stadium, whereas racism is far more serious. Unfortunately, these are rude chants aimed towards a single player.”