The football federation in Italy, FIGC has made a strong decision regarding Romelu Lukaku. The Belgian had received a red card in the first leg of the Italian Cup semi-finals between his club Inter Milan at Juventus.
Initially suspended for the second leg match which will be played on Wednesday, April 26, Romelu Lukaku will finally be present for this game. As announced by ANSA, Gabriele Gravina (the president of the FIGC) pardoned the Belgian player.
The Inter player had received a second red card after reacting to racist comments he had suffered from individuals present in the Curva Sud of the Allianz Stadium: he had therefore been suspended for one match.
The case had sparked the reaction of several football stars like Kylian Mbappe and Didier Drogba, who criticized the player’s suspension.
By taking this decision, the Italian Football League wanted to send a strong message against racism. The Federation considered “that the footballer has been the subject on several occasions of serious, repeated and regrettable manifestations of hatred and racial discrimination of such a nature as to be able to formally justify non-regulatory behavior”.
Thanks to CCTV cameras at the Allianz Stadium, Juventus found two individuals responsible for these racist comments. An adult who will be excluded for life from events concerning Juve and a minor who will be excluded for 10 years from all the enclosures of the bianconero club.