French defender Samuel Umtiti in tears after being targeted by racist cries


French Lecce defender Samuel Umtiti suffered racist chanting from Lazio Rome supporters on Wednesday afternoon. The referee of this match won by Lecce (2-1) was forced to stop the match a few moments in the second half because of these cries “coming from the visitor sector occupied by Lazio supporters”, according to the Italian agency Ansa.

They were then targeting Umtiti, 2018 world champion with France on loan from Lecce last summer by FC Barcelona, ​​​​but others had been heard in the first period targeting Banda, according to the same source.

Umtiti in tears

Umtiti left the pitch in tears at the end of the match, to a standing ovation from the Lecce crowd, according to Italian media. “The racist cries were overwhelmed by those of encouragement. All the giallorosso people (yellow and red, the colors of Lecce, editor’s note) began to shout a single name, Samuel Umtiti”, wrote the club from the south of the Italy on his Twitter account, with the mention in English “leave racism aside” and photos of the French defender.

“When the referee interrupted the match, waiting for the announcer to call for an end to the racist cries, Umtiti asked that the match resume, because he wanted to respond on the pitch to the insults received. He reacted like a true champion”, commented the president of Lecce Saverio Sticchi Damiani, quoted on the site of the Gazzetta dello Sport.

Racist cries are a recurring phenomenon in Italian stadiums, especially from certain Lazio supporters known, for a fringe of them, to maintain links with the fascist history of the country.

In August, Nigerian Victor Osimhen was the target of discriminatory cries in Verona. After a season and a half in stadiums behind closed doors due to the pandemic, racist incidents, recurring in Italy, returned to the stadiums last season. Koulibaly, Osimhen but also Mike Maignan or Zlatan Ibrahimovic had notably been victims.



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