Joel Obi was victim of a racist incident during Tuesday’s match against Pisa, Chievo denounced with an official statement. According to the club, the opponent Michele Marconi told the Nigerian midfielder it was the “rebellion of the slaves” while they were arguing about a foul. Marconi did not receive any punishment and the game ended in a 2-2 tie, but Pisa are disputing the occurrence.
The Gialloblù added in their release: “We wish to express our solidarity with the player, who was the recipient of a disgraceful and shameful insult that has nothing to do with the most elementary and basic values of sport, ethics and respect. We regret the fact that the sentence was heard by most of the people on the pitch but was not sanctioned by the referee, the fourth official or by the federal prosecutor. Chievo will continue fighting against any form of racism and violence, on and off the pitch.”
Pisa denied any accusation against their player with a statement of their own, adding that the phrase was not picked up by any microphone: “We do not accept moral lessons from anybody, especially from a team that did not exactly distinguish themselves for its compliance to fair-play and the basic rules of the sport in the last few years.”
Even though the FIGC and the Serie B representatives did not intervene right away, an investigation has already been opened, local newspaper L’Arena reports.