Benetton, silence on the Traoré case.

While awaiting the end of the investigations and the answers from the federal bodies, Benetton Rugby got the pitch talking, defeating Zebre di Parma 38-5 in the first of the two derbies of the season. Silence remains on the part of the green-and-whites following the Traorè case, recipient of a rotten banana placed by Ivan Nemer inside a wet bag on the occasion of the Secret Santa between teammates. More gestures and fewer words, this is the line held by Benetton, which from the match against Zebre (at least) until the end of the season will take the field with the words “No Racism” on the back of the shirts to give a strong signal. “Our position is clear, we have firmly condemned this gesture, we are against blatant gestures that may be inappropriate”, said Amerino Zatta, president of Benetton Rugby. Traorè himself, lined up for the second time this season, responded on the pitch with an excellent performance to the media whirlwind that engulfed the Italian prop of Guinean origin and the entire Benetton environment. Emblematic is the gesture of his teammates who, in the 16th minute, following a scrum won thanks to Treviso’s left prop to the applause of the crowd, ran to embrace him, aware of the moment the 27-year-old from Kindia is going through these days.

THE MATCH

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In the cold of Christmas Eve, the Monigo stadium proved to be more taciturn than usual, both when entering the field and when the hosts scored. Landlords who put on a show, shredding the Zebras from the first to the last minute, scoring valuable goals. The first came in the 13th minute, when Maul Riera, who was deployed at the opener in this action, opened the game for Albornoz who evaded two opponents and flew undisturbed into goal. Treviso is stationed in the opposing half, the Zebre find no answers, and two tries close to the interval by the award-winning company Cannone (first Niccolò and then Lorenzo) project the lions up 19-0 at the interval. Manfredi’s yellow card at the start of the second half allows the hosts to widen the gap with Smith first and then Nicotera in two minutes (31-0), before Luca Bigi’s goal in the 65th minute. However, the match was closed by Riccardo Favretto, who returned to the field more than a year after his last official appearance, setting the final score at 38-5.

THE POST

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At the end of the match, the visit of the FIR President Marzio Innocenti to the Benetton locker room, where it is easy to think that it wasn’t just about holidays. Instead, the President of Benetton Zatta spoke, reaffirming his solidarity with Cherif Traorè, awaiting the inevitable verdicts of the Public Prosecutor’s Office. “It’s difficult to talk about the pitch today, a round of applause to the guys who have shown professionalism and that they have remained united. The Public Prosecutor’s Office is investigating, yesterday they heard the two athletes involved, we await decisions, these are not quantifiable episodes from a material point of view so it is difficult evaluate what could come of it but we will take note of it. It is right that these actions are punished, the boy (Ivan Nemer, ed) made a gesture that will probably mark him for a long time, he understood the seriousness of his actions. We are a team that has athletes from all latitudes, it is necessary to respect every tradition, religion and so on”.