MILAN, Oct 11 (Reuters) - Racist graffiti abusing Lazio player Fabio Liverani has been scrawled across the entrance to the Rome club's training ground, Italian newspapers reported on Thursday.
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Fabio Liverani (right): Subjected to racism at Lazio
(GraziNeri/Allsport) |
Liverani, whose father is Italian and mother Somalian, is
the first black player to represent Italy and joined Lazio last
month from Perugia.
The reports said a swastika had been drawn on a wall next to
the racist slogans attacking Liverani.
Lazio have been fined by soccer authorities on numerous
occasions because of the racist behaviour of fans at the Olympic
stadium.
'Whoever has made this offensive and racist writing against
Liverani is certainly not a Lazio supporter,' club president
Sergio Cragnotti, who has campaigned against the racist element
among his team's supporters.
Lazio's largest hardcore 'ultra' fan group, the
'Irriducibile', who have in the past been accused of racism,
condemned the graffiti in a statement to the media.
'We disassociate ourselves completely from the writing and
symbols against Fabio Liverani ... we invite Lazio supporters to
show their attachment to the Lazio shirt in a completely
different manner,' read the statement.
The daily Corriere dello Sport said the ultras had asked for
a private meeting with Liverani.
Midfielder Liverani is only the second black player to have
played for Lazio after Dutch midfielder Aron Winter who played
for the club in the mid-nineties.
- NEWS