August 17, (THEWILL) – Hellas Verona, an Italian Serie A team, was penalised €12,000 for admitting in supporters, who racially abused Super Eagles forward, Victor Osimhen.
In Napoli’s first game of the 2022/2023 Serie A season, Osimhen and his teammates travelled to Hellas Verona, where the Gialloblu sought to match everything Napoli threw at them, making for a very interesting contest.
The Nigerian forward was one of the primary worries for the hosts as he ceaselessly disturbed their backline with his pacy runs and energetic attacks that he scored one goal and provided the assist for another, as the Partenopeans ultimately triumphed.
Aside from the excellent skill on display, Osimhen’s celebration after scoring made headlines. It was later established that Osimhen was reacting to being the target of racial chanting by the home crowd. As a consequence, Verona will pay a €12,000 fine after the Serie A disciplinary board found their fans guilty.
Italian football has a long history of incidents involving African players, so racist fans are not a new phenomenon in the league. However, it is hoped that stricter regulations like this will result in a shift in attitude in race relations will come about.
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.
