Italian football club’s challenge to racism

Italian Serie A club Roma’s response to a racist message sent by a supporter on Instagram sent to one of their players Juan Jesus has been hailed as bold and ground-breaking . First the club publicly named and shamed the perpetrator, reported him to the police and banned him for life – a first. It then Tweeted this message to the league authorities: “Are you really serious about tackling racism in Italian football @SerieA.” The league has been criticised for not responding robustly enough to previous incidents and Roma’s challenge has been received positively by many, including Prime Minister, Giuseppe Conte. This article calls the Tweet “a pertinent inquiry, applicable way outside Italy’s borders.”