IFL come down on Juve for racist chants

Mario

Juventus must play their next home league game against Lecce on May 3 behind closed doors as punishment for the racist chants by their fans directed at Inter Milan striker Mario Balotelli.


The chanting took place during Saturday's 1-1 draw in Turin.


A statement from the Italian Football League read: "The ruling is based on the fact that, on numerous occasions, the fans of the home club in several sections of the stadium chanted songs of racial discrimination against a rival player."


Earlier, Juventus president Giovanni Cobolli Gigli voiced his anger over the abuse aimed at Balotelli.


"In the name of Juventus and the majority of its fans, I express condemnation for the racist chanting directed at Inter player Mario Balotelli," he said.


"There are no excuses and no justification for that behavior. Episodes like this are unacceptable."


Inter Milan president Massimo Moratti, who was not at the stadium but watched the game on TV, was also shocked by the taunts directed at the Italy Under-21 international.


"Had I been at the stadium, at a certain point I would have left my place in the presidential stand and gone straight down and taken my players off the pitch," he said.


"There is a limit to everything. I thought the referee would stop the game but I was mistaken.


"These chants have been made by almost everyone at the stadium, with such conviction that there seemed to be pride and happiness in singing those songs.


"This is terrible and all my team left Turin shocked and hurt by this incident."


Juve are 10 points behind league leaders Inter with six games remaining.


Platini calls for suspensions for racist chants
UEFA president Michel Platini has called for games to be suspended and then abandoned if players are subjected to racist abuse.


Juventus announced they would appeal against the punishment meted out to the club following the racist chants that marred their Serie A match against Inter Milan on Saturday.


Italy's disciplinary chiefs decided Juve must play their next home league game behind closed doors after sections of the crowd directed abuse at Inter's Ghana-born striker Marco Balotelli during Saturday's 1-1 draw.


But Juve legend Platini believes more immediate action needs to be taken in order to combat racism in football.


"Courage is needed," said the Frenchman, who is in Rome to hand over the Champions League trophy ahead of the final on May 27.


"From now on, the line of UEFA in a case of racist chants will be to stop the game for 10 minutes and, if it continues despite announcements, to suspend the game completely."


Juve coach Claudio Ranieri admitted the supporters in question on Saturday were in the wrong but labeled the ban "unjust".


"Our lawyers will deal with this," he said of the appeal.


"The stadium ban is unjust. This is not a recurrent incident as it was just one game.


"In any case, the behavior (of the fans) was not correct.


"I am close to the lad (Balotelli) and I am very saddened for what has happened but I reiterate that it is right for us to appeal."


Bianconeri president Giovanni Cobolli Gigli earlier voiced his anger over the abuse aimed at Balotelli.


"In the name of Juventus and the majority of its fans, I express condemnation for the racist chanting directed at Inter player Mario Balotelli," he said.


"There are no excuses and no justification for that behaviour. Episodes like this are unacceptable."