oakiecokie
Well-Known Member
Romelu Lukaku (left) and Chris Smalling are former Manchester United team-mates
Roma have said the 'Black Friday' headline used by Italian newspaper Corriere dello Sport is "terrible".
The headline accompanied pictures of Roma defender Chris Smalling and Inter Milan striker Romelu Lukaku prior to Friday's match between their two sides.
"The intention of the newspaper article was actually positive," said Roma chief strategy officer Paul Rogers.
"But this headline has totally overshadowed the anti-racist message contained within the story."
In a social media post, Inter said: "Football is passion, culture and brotherhood. We are and always will be opposed to any form of discrimination."
Serie A club AC Milan said "it is totally unacceptable to see such casual ignorance on racism", while Lukaku's agent Federico Pastorello, who is Italian, said he was "really ashamed to read" such a headline.
"Being an agent, we are trying to protect our clients from this huge problem [racism] because it's not only a newspaper but it's a problem you can breathe in the stadium, in social media, on the street," he told Sky Sports.
"For sure he [Lukaku] is not happy about that but he's strong enough to face it."
Corriere dello Sport defended the "innocent" headline in a comment piece on its website.
"White, blacks, yellows. To negate every difference is the typical massive error of 'the racism of the anti-racisms'," said the editorial.
"The mental rabble of those casual moralists. 'Black Friday', for those who want and can understand it, it was only a way to celebrate diversity.
"If you don't understand, it is because you can't or you don't want to understand."
Are we becoming too "snowflakey" in our thoughts about racism or was this just plain stupid from the Italian newspaper ?