Will Lukaku be whistled against Inter? Italian authorities make decision

Roma‘s in-form ace Romelu Lukaku should not anticipate a warm reception as he returns to the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza to face Inter.

Sunday’s most anticipated matchup of the Serie A weekend will see the capital team, Roma visit Inter in Milan. The Giallorossi want to move up the table, while the Nerazzurri’s main goal is to hold onto the top spot in the rankings.

However, the focal point of attention is Lukaku’s return to the Giuseppe Meazza, this time as a rival. Last summer, Simone Inzaghi’s team was in negotiations with Chelsea to secure the Belgian’s permanent return.

Later, they discovered that Lukaku was also in talks with their rivals Juventus and AC Milan. That’s when the pair’s relationship took a sour turn, turning into the summer’s dramatic saga in Serie A.

Ultimately, the 30-year-old veteran joined another Italian club, Roma, on loan. Nevertheless, this prolonged transfer saga left a sour taste in the mouths of Inter fans. Understandably, fans have not reacted positively to the striker’s actions and the circumstances surrounding his departure.

Inter fans will not welcome Lukaku back with open arms

As a result, it always seemed likely that Lukaku would face a very negative reception from Inter supporters at the San Siro, especially during his first return. In fact, the Inter ultras group, the Curva Nord, had pledged to distribute 30,000-50,000 whistles for the upcoming match. This was intended to allow the Nerazzurri fans to express their disapproval even more loudly and distinctly.

In Serie A, it is not unusual to employ hundreds of whistles to annoy a former player. When Juventus made their comeback to the Stadio Artemio Franchi in March 2022, Dusan Vlahovic was met with 10,000 Fiorentina fans blowing them.

However, the ambitions of the Nerazzurri faithful have been halted by the local authorities. The Inter Ultras acknowledged that they had been told not to use these whistles in an Instagram message. “Yet more abuse. Whistles banned!!! 10,000 in Florence was ok two years ago”, the statement continued, “The law is not the same for everyone.”

Nerazzurri will face fine if whistling occurs

Preventing every whistle from entering the stadium is obviously not going to be possible. However, the officials were clear that whistles are not permitted inside the stadium.

The decision to forbid the anti-Lukaku whistling came after a meeting between Roma and Inter and security officials to assess safety protocols for the game, as TuttoMercatoWeb reported.

The whistles are not considered to be potentially harmful possibilities because they are not constructed of iron. But the possibility of a disturbance was also taken into account.

Furthermore, the report notes that the decision to take this step was made solely by the authorities, without any special request from Roma. In any case, Inter would face consequences if the whistles were sounded during the game.

The Giallorossi have also denied having made any formal requests. Yet certain authoritative sources assert differently, as per La Gazzetta dello Sport. According to these reports, Jose Mourinho’s outfit sent a special email requesting that whistles be prohibited during this weekend’s derby clash.

Photo credits: IMAGO / IPA Sport : IMAGO / Ulrich Hufnagel