Gasperini on racist insults to Vlahovic: “Racism is serious, in this case…”

The Atalanta coach wanted to minimize the very serious episode of racism that took place today at the Gewiss Stadium

Once again we are here to talk about episodes of racism in the world of football. This time it happened in Bergamo during the match between Atalanta and Juventus, where Vlahovic was the subject of various insults. Or rather, real racist chants. The Atalanta curve welcomed the black and white center forward with the cry of “zingaro di m…”. Something that did not go unnoticed, even if in the post-match Gian Piero Gasperini tried to minimize everything to the microphones of DAZN:

“I agree with the condemnations, but I have to point out that Atalanta has Pasalic, Djimsiti, Ilicic and Sutalo. There are many players of that ethnic group. Sometimes the insults are also due to other things… Racism it’s a serious matter, it shouldn’t be confused. Then it’s obvious that it should be opposed and fought, but let’s not confuse it. Sometimes we need to distinguish.”

“It’s an insult even when they say son of a p… or piece of a m… Let’s see if it’s an insult to the individual or a racist insult. Let’s try to differentiate otherwise we’ll lump everything together. Then we have to fight forcefully racism. And rudeness is another matter, but that is more widespread, more generalized”

A stance and phrases that, honestly, we don’t need. We will need much tougher positions, real condemnations. Without ifs and buts. We will need referees who interrupt matches, not just issue suspension “threats” over the loudspeakers. Finally, we will need another sporting culture.