Saturday, September 22, 2012

RACISM ALLEGATION BY LAZIO


Platini to probe alleged racism by Lazio fans aimed at Spurs stars Lennon and Defoe



UEFA have opened disciplinary proceedings against Lazio over the racist chants directed at Jermain Defoe and Aaron Lennon during Tottenham’s Europa League match on Thursday.
With UEFA president Michel Platini watching from the stands, the 0-0 draw was marred by a group of Lazio fans who made monkey chants at Defoe after he slid into an advertising hoarding in front of them.
Romanian referee Ovidiu Alin Hategan and his delegates included reference to the abuse in their report to UEFA, so the case was opened on Friday.
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Allegations: Lazio fans cheer on their team at White Hart Lane on Thursday night
Allegations: Lazio fans cheer on their team at White Hart Lane on Thursday night
Target: Lazio fans allegedly directed vile racist abuse at Tottenham striker Defoe
Target: Lazio fans allegedly directed vile racist abuse at Tottenham striker Defoe
Lazio could now face a range of punishments when the case is dealt with on October 18.
If found guilty the standard fine is €20,000 (£16,000), but UEFA could force the Italian club to play matches behind closed doors, forfeit a match, have points deducted or, in the extreme, disqualify them from the competition.
Spurs say they will assist the investigation and provide CCTV and video footage.
A UEFA spokesman said: ‘UEFA has opened disciplinary proceedings against Lazio for the improper conduct of the club’s supporters (racist behaviour) during the UEFA Europa League group stage match between Tottenham and the Italian side.’
Members of the anti-discrimination group Football Against Racism in Europe were in the crowd and said they could hear monkey chants. They will file reports to UEFA to aid the proceedings.
Heated: The fiery clash at White hart Lane had a number of flashpoints
Heated: The fiery clash at White hart Lane had a number of flashpoints
Heated: The fiery clash at White hart Lane had a number of flashpoints 
The group’s executive director Piara Powar said: ‘If UEFA really want to set the bar high, if they want to send out a strong message, they could move directly to something like a match behind closed doors.
‘They could suspend that, perhaps, and then if something happens further down the line, they can trigger that. There needs to be hard symbolic action taken when these instances occur.’
Last season Porto were fined €20,000 by Uefa for racist chanting directed at Mario Balotelli during Manchester City’s Europa League match against them. But indicating that they felt the Balotelli incident was relatively minor, UEFA then fined Nicklas Bendtner £80,000 for revealing Paddy Power-branded underpants when celebrating a goal at Euro 2012.
On Friday Chelsea boss Roberto Di Matteo also criticised Twitter users who sent racist messages to John Mikel Obi following his mistake in the 2-2 draw with Juventus on Wednesday.
The midfielder quit Twitter and the club reported two incidents of ‘totally unacceptable, disgusting and abhorrent’ abuse to police, vowing to ban any fan found to have engaged in such behaviour.
Captain's job: Lennon wore the armband on a night when he was also an alleged victim of abuse
Captain's job: Lennon wore the armband on a night when he was also an alleged victim of abuse
Captain's job: Lennon wore the armband on a night when he was also an alleged victim of abuse
Mikel, 25, apologised for giving the ball away in the lead-up to Juve’s equaliser and closed his Twitter account on Thursday. His manager insisted anonymous abuse on the social network was simply unacceptable.
Di Matteo said: ‘In general the social media world, especially Twitter — because it’s anonymous and so on — is a dangerous vehicle to express yourself. I don’t think it’s fair.
‘If somebody has to express his opinion, he should put his face to it. I’ve spoken to him (Mikel) and to other players as well. It’s something not nice to receive. His intention was to close the account anyway, so it was a good reason.
‘We should do everything to eradicate this kind of discrimination from our society.’
Food for thought: UEFA President Michel Platini (centre) was in the crowd at White Hart Lane
Food for thought: UEFA President Michel Platini (centre) was in the crowd at White Hart Lane

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