BEVERLY HILLS, May 07, (THEWILL) – As football continues the fight against all forms of abuse, both online and offline, the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) have announced a 10-match ban penalty on Michele Marconi, forward for Serie B side Pisa, in the Italian second division. He was acknowledged to have racially abused Nigerian midfielder Joel Obi of Chievo Verona.
The abuse occurred at a second division match between Pisa and Chievo played on Tuesday, December 22, 2021 in Pisa and the punishment was decided on Thursday, this week, at the hearing of the case in the appeal court of the Football Federation.
A statement from the FIGC announcing the decision said the 31-year-old Marconi “addressed racist insults to Chievo midfielder Joel Obi during the Pisa-Chievo game on Dec.22″ which earned him the ban. The statement continued: “Following the complaint of the Federal Prosecutor’s Office, the Federal Court of Appeal ordered the disqualification for 10 days of the Pisa player Michele Marconi.”
In the aftermath of the match in question, which ended in a 2-2 draw, Obi’s team, Chievo, released a statement that held that their 29-year-old midfielder was “the object of an infamous and disgraceful phrase that has nothing to do with the most basic values of sport, ethics and respect.”
Chievo stated that Pisa’s Marconi targeted Obi’s race when he applied the phrase “the slave revolt” towards the former Inter Milan and Torino midfielder.
At the time, Pisa “distanced itself” from Chievo’s accusation, and tainted the observation with a mark of incredibility as, they held that the alleged insult was not detected by match officials or the microphones around the pitch when it was said to have taken place.
They further backed their forward by emphasising their stance: “Moreover, our player confirmed that he had not addressed any insults to the opposing player, let alone racially motivated ones.”
But, the evidence the court relied on convinced them that the abuse actually happened and Marconi will pay for it with the 10-match ban.
Obi’s Serie B club are having a tough season currently. Victory has been difficult to come by in any of their last four fixtures, with a coincidental 2-0 win over the same Pisa, their last victory, which was on Monday, April 12. Their last match was a 1-1 tie against Cremonese at home on Tuesday, May 4.
However, Chievo are seventh on the standings after 36 matches and have just two games left before the season is over. They will hope Obi continues his good form and that they get their victories back in the two fixtures left, the first away to Virtus Entella, and then the final game, at home to Ascoli.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
