Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini has suggested that insulting players’ families is just as serious as the issue of racism.
Salvini came under fire for seemingly downplaying the severity of abuse levelled at Kalidou Koulibaly during Napoli’s 1-0 defeat to Inter earlier in the week, and the Minister of the Interior [pictured, right] tried to clarify his remarks.
Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini has suggested that insulting players’ families is just as serious as the issue of racism.
Salvini came under fire for seemingly downplaying the severity of abuse levelled at Kalidou Koulibaly during Napoli’s 1-0 defeat to Inter earlier in the week, and the Minister of the Interior [pictured, right] tried to clarify his remarks.
“I repeat: zero tolerance with the thugs, but I’m clearly against the closure of the stadiums or some sectors,” he wrote in an open letter to Gazzetta dello Sport.
“Neither am I convinced by travel bans. The responsibility must always be personal: I don’t agree with the idea of punishing all fans.
“Abandoning games, with the clashes that took place beforehand, could have caused more disorder.
“In addition, without wishing to justify or tolerate vulgarity or offences, I ask myself: we intend to defend players singled out by the colour of their skin, but not those whose mothers are insulted?
“So you can lash out at Marco Materazzi’s family? And what is the line between racist insults and just insults?
“In 2018, anyone who despises another human being for their skin colour is a fool. But just because the problem of racism is so serious, it shouldn’t be trivialised.”