The Curva Nord of the Stadio Olimpico will be closed for the upcoming match between Lazio and Empoli following the racist incident involving Samuel Umtiti. The sports judge opted for a harsh punishment since he usually hands out suspended sentences in these instances. In addition, there were only a thousand Biancocelesti fans in the stands for the Lecce game. The sanction will impact much more people.
The club had issued a statement before the decision.
“During Lecce-Lazio, the referee was forced to halt the game due racist howls toward a player of the home team. We have always fought any form of discrimination with every possible mean, employing initiatives to repress these incidents, sensitizing our fans on the matter and taking action to protect our image in the adequate seats.”
“Lazio condemn those who carried out this deplorable, shameful, and anachronistic gesture. We’ll always offer our full collaboration to the authorities to identify who’s responsible. Our supporters aren’t racist and can’t be associated with a few individuals that gravely hurt the reputation of the club.”
The sports judge pointed out that his three collaborations in loco all heard the chants. They prompted the referee to interrupt the match. The local supporters started shouting Umtiti’s name to overwhelm the insults.
He also asked for the federal inspectors to look into similar behavior by the Napoli faithful toward Romelu Lukaku in Wednesday’s clash. There will be no punishment It could happen at a later date following further assessments.
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