Racist shouts in a stadium: 16% of Italians say that imitating monkey cries is justified when supporting a football team

Un sondage déconcertant en Italie. PSI – ALESSIO MORGESE

Some 16% of Italians believe that imitating monkey cries and uttering racist insults, such as those which recently targeted AC Milan's French goalkeeper Mike Maignan, are justified when supporting a team of football, according to a survey published Thursday.

In this survey carried out from January 24 to 26 by the SWG institute among 800 people, 16% of those questioned consider that “making a monkey cry or throwing bananas at black players" is normal when supporting a team.

A similar proportion of the sample states that being a supporter of a team allows one to "say 'gypsy' or 'Jew' to a player" (18%) and to "insult a player because of his nationality or origins" (18%).

On January 20, during the Italian championship match between Udinese and AC Milan, Maignan left the field, imitated by his teammates, after being the target of shouts from monkey, thus forcing the referee to interrupt the match.

"They have to endure everything that happens"

After a five-minute stoppage, the match resumed with Maignan who, the next day, urged the Italian authorities to react against a scourge which regularly returns in calcio. The Udine club (northern Italy) has since banned five of its supporters for life and was ordered to play a match behind closed doors, a sanction reduced on appeal and reduced to the closure of the club. #39;a stand for two matches.

Also according to the SWG survey, 74% of those questioned consider it normal that "the targeted players take strong positions on the subject", but 22% believe that'& quot;as public figures paid for entertainment, they have to endure whatever happens.

Half of those questioned (51%) believe that insulting your own team or the athlete you support after a bad result is normal for a supporter. Likewise, 46% believe that insulting referees goes hand in hand with stadium attendance.