Rome -
"We are enemies of racism". A day after the storm caused by the cover that dedicated the headline 'Black Friday' to the players Romelu Lukaku and Chris Smalling, the Italian sports newspaper Le Corriere dello Sport denounced a "lynching" on Friday.
The photographs of both former Manchester United players appeared on the front page of Thursday to illustrate an article about the Friday confrontation between their clubs, AS Roma (Smalling) and Inter Milan (Lukaku).
The article states that the two players "who have learned to respect each other, have taken strong positions to denounce racism and have become symbols of their clubs".
But the cover received a lot of criticism, especially on social media, in a country where racism in football is a recurring problem.
Starting with the two players mentioned. "Instead of focusing on the battle between the two teams, Corriere dello Sport made the stupidest cover I've ever seen in my career," Lukaku wrote on Twitter.
Smalling, for his part, hopes that "the editors involved in the publication of that headline will assume their responsibilities and understand the power they have through words".
In addition, Roma decided to close access to the team's training sessions at least until January for Corriere dello Sport, a measure imitated by AC Milan.
NOI, NEMICI DEL RAZZISMO https://t.co/2a09Ez0BWQ
- Corriere dello Sport (@CorSport) December 6, 2019
Perverted Message
This Friday, Le Corriere dedicates its cover and the following two pages to this case. "Are we racist?", the newspaper headlines, adding several archive photos that address the issue.
"Lynching against a newspaper that for a century has defended freedom and equality," it adds.
Inside pages define it as "enemy of racism" and consider that its headline from Thursday was "perverted by the superficiality and bad faith of social networks and internet pages, changing the message", describing Lukaku and Smalling as "extraordinary professionals".
"We are very sorry for them. Our intention was not to hurt them, on the contrary, we wanted to value them. We will continue to fight against racism. And ignorance," it adds.
The newspaper also includes translations into English, Spanish, and French of the controversial original article on its website to show that its intention was to highlight both players.
"In the face of idiots who boo, tomorrow we should all say 'oooh' (like children). A great Black Friday is being disputed, but they are not end-of-season discounts, in any case, it is what remains of a Scudetto to enjoy throughout the season," the original text points out.
Several Serie A players, including Lukaku and Brescia's Italian forward Mario Balotelli, have regularly been victims of insults and xenophobic shouts in the first months of this season. (D)