Serie A disciplinary commission fines Verona €12,000 for Osimhen racial taunts
Serie A disciplinary commission fines Verona €12,000 for Osimhen racial taunts
The Italian Serie A disciplinary panel has fined Hellas Verona €12,000 following an investigation into the racial taunts directed at Nigerian international Victor Osimhen by some of the club’s supporters.
In an exciting goal-filled game, Napoli’s inaugural Serie A match of the 2022–23 season was played on Monday at the Stadio Marcantonio Bentegodi.
The Gialloblu attempted to compete with the Partenopeans, but the difference in class was obvious as the winners won 5-2.
However, some parts of the home fans’ racial slurs directed at Osimhen during the opening game tarnished the event.
The Super Eagles striker was the target of monkey chants from the home crowd, the most recent instance of racist screaming at Verona, who have a long history of far-right sympathies among its ardent supporters.
The 23-year-old, who maintained his composure throughout the contest, had the last laugh when he mocked the Verona supporters following his team’s second goal. The Nigerian provided a pass for teammate Matteo Politano to poke in the fifth goal as well.
As he and his colleagues celebrated their goal, Osimhen made fun of the spectators by feigning tears for the camera.
El grafico, an Italian tabloid, claims that the league’s disciplinary committee judged the home team guilty and fined them.
According to the publication, “Hellas Verona was fined €12,000 for considering that it allowed its fans to carry out racist chants against the player Victor Osimhen, from Napoli, during the match between the two teams for the first date of Serie A of Italian football.
“After the first day of Serie A 2022/23, an investigation into Hellas Verona-Naples was opened with the Federal Prosecutor’s Office, which considers it necessary to clarify and identify those responsible for the first racial discrimination choirs against a Napoli player.”
