The President of FIFA, Gianni Infantino, has decried the “idiots” who directed racist chants at Sulley Muntari in a Seria A game in Italy.
Muntari, 32, was sent off after leaving the field claiming that he was racially abused by Italian fans – he later stated that he felt like a “criminal” upon receiving the second yellow card, and unsuccessfully trying to get the referee to halt the game.
He initially faced a one match ban, but this decision was overturned by the Italian Football Federation.
Infantino, who holds a dual nationality of Swiss and Italian, has offered to meet and speak with the Ghanaian player over his mistreatment, and is upset that the referee did not follow strict FIFA protocols to dealing with the incident.
He later issued a public reminder of the correct response to player complaints:
“The three step process [is] stop the game, make an announcement, stop the game a while, get the players out,” Infantino said on Tuesday. “Unfortunately idiots [are to blame]. There are always idiots everywhere but we have to fight them. Continue to fight.
“It’s good to bring these things out when they happen. We have to work.”
Muntari outwardly questioned FIFA’s commitment to tackling racism, and these are player concerns that Infantino wants to hear directly.
“Of course I will speak to [Carlo] Tavecchio,” Infantino said, referring to the Italian federation president who was banned for racism himself in 2014.
“I will speak to Muntari as well… we will work together.”
A week after the initial Muntari incident, Italy’s national broadcaster opened an investigation after another footballer in Italy was the victim of racist abuse, this time while being interviewed on live television.
Juventus defender Medhi Benatia was appearing on a Rai show via video link after Saturday’s match. The Morocco international was connected to the studio through an earpiece when he heard a racist insult. So far, there has been no further investigative action on the accusation.
