'Sorry' player cops huge ban for 'vulgar' act

1 year ago 82

Benetton and Italy prop Ivan Nemer was suspended until the extremity of the play connected Friday aft giving a rotten banana to a Black teammate.

During a concealed Santa speech of gifts astatine a Benetton squad meal connected Dec. 20, prop Cherif Traoré was presented with the rotten banana.

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Traoré, who migrated from Guinea arsenic a kid and has represented Italy 15 times, posted astir the incidental connected societal media astatine the time, saying however upset helium was, particularly astatine the information that astir of his teammates laughed. They were each made to apologise to him days later.

It was revealed lone connected Friday who gave the banana to Traoré, erstwhile the Italian Rugby Federation announced Nemer was suspended until June 30. It besides said helium volition miss the upcoming Six Nations and has fixed up his close to appeal.

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“Racism has ne'er had and volition ne'er person immoderate relation successful my life, arsenic it should ne'er person successful the beingness of each of us,” Nemer said successful a connection helium asked the federation to issue.

“I regret profoundly what happened, the stupidity of my gesture, the upset it caused to a friend, the information that I caused harm to my team, to my teammates, to the state I correspond and the crippled I love.”

Nemer volition besides person to be a grooming and consciousness programme and his aboriginal engagement with the nationalist squad depends connected however good helium performs successful it.

The 24-year-old Nemer was calved successful Argentina and has made 11 appearances for Italy.

“I travel from a multicultural state similar Argentina, wherever cultures person been mixing for implicit a period and I person ever shared the dressing country and the tract with teammates and friends that travel from each implicit the world,” Nemer added. “What happened doesn’t correspond me, but astatine the aforesaid clip it should marque maine bespeak connected what inactive has to beryllium done to alteration our culture, overcoming the astir vulgar stereotypes.

“I judge the suspension and the way of reintegration with calmness but supra each I’m assured that successful the upcoming months and years I tin lend with my acquisition to assistance young rugby players beryllium much delicate to these matters that should beryllium faced and understood to marque not lone our athletics better, but the satellite successful which we live.”

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