Lazio fans hurl racist abuse at Lecce's Samuel Umtiti, Lameck Banda

Rome: France international Samuel Umtiti reportedly left the pitch in tears after he and Lecce teammate Lameck Banda suffered racist abuse from visiting Lazio fans in Italy’s Serie A on Wednesday. The referee stopped the game in the second half because of racist taunts “coming from the visitor sector occupied by Lazio supporters”, Italian news agency Ansa said. Cameroon-born defender Umtiti, who won the 2018 World Cup with France and is on loan at Lecce from Barcelona, was the primary target of the abuse. Lazio fans also hurled racist insults at Zambian international Banda during the first half, Ansa reported. Lecce president Saverio Sticchi Damiani said that the referee halted the game and after stadium announcers called for the abuse to stop, “Umtiti asked that the match resume”.

Samuel Umtiti se toma la revancha en Lecce. Gran partido hoy contra la Lazio, con todo el estadio coreando su nombre. @relevo 🎥⬇️ pic.twitter.com/CCNRj2vEsS

— Matteo Moretto (@MatteMoretto) January 4, 2023

The 29-year-old Umtiti left the pitch in tears at the end of the match and also a standing ovation from the Lecce crowd, according to Italian media. “He wanted to respond on the pitch to the insults. He reacted like a true champion,” newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport quoted Damiani as saying. Lecce, who won 2-1 , afterwards praised their fans for responding to the abuse by chanting Umtiti’s name.

𝑰 𝒄𝒐𝒓𝒊 𝒓𝒂𝒛𝒛𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒊 𝒔𝒐𝒏𝒐 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒊 𝑺𝑶𝑴𝑴𝑬𝑹𝑺𝑰 𝒅𝒂 𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒊 𝒅'𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒐𝒓𝒂𝒈𝒈𝒊𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒐! 𝑻𝒖𝒕𝒕𝒐 𝒊𝒍 𝒑𝒐𝒑𝒐𝒍𝒐 𝒈𝒊𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒓𝒐𝒔𝒔𝒐 𝒉𝒂 𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒛𝒊𝒂𝒕𝒐 𝒂𝒅 𝒖𝒓𝒍𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒖𝒏 𝒔𝒐𝒍𝒐 𝒏𝒐𝒎𝒆 @samumtiti !

#KeepRacismOut @SerieA pic.twitter.com/wqGWCOGDQ7

— U.S. Lecce (@OfficialUSLecce) January 4, 2023

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“The racist insults were drowned out by the cheers of encouragement for our champion!” the club said on Twitter, along with the hashtag in English #KeepRacismOut. FIFA president Gianni Infantino also threw his support behind Umtiti and Banda.

“Let’s shout it loud and clear: NO TO RACISM! May the huge majority of fans, who are good people, stand up to shut up all the racists once and for all!” he wrote in an Instagram post. This is by no means the first case of racist abuse in Italian football, particularly among clubs that have connections to the country’s far right. Fascist fan groups are common across Italy. Lazio’s ultras group the “Irriducibili” have hardcore supporters with ties to the extreme right that stretch back to at least the 1970s. Read all the Latest News , Trending News ,  Cricket News , Bollywood News ,  India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.