
<p>Juventus face a stadium ban for one match due to racial abuse by their fans. Yet, it is only for one section at Allianz Stadium. The incident in question occurred during the Old Lady’s <a href="https://www.worldsoccertalk.com/coppa-italia-tv-schedule-and-streaming-links/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Coppa Italia</a> matchup with rivals <a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/inter-milan-tv-schedule/">Inter Milan</a> on Tuesday. A contingent of Juventus fans racially abused Belgian international Romelu Lukaku late in the matchup. The striker received the abuse before and after converting a penalty to level the scoreline.</p>



<p>Because of the deplorable incident, <a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/serie-a-tv-schedule/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Serie A</a> officials made the move to close part of the stadium’s South Stand. The stand holds about 5,000 people. Juventus will now have to play against league-leading Napoli with fewer fans on April 23rd.</p>



<h2>Player’s agent asks for harsher penalty than Juventus stadium ban</h2>



<p>Following the match, Lukaku’s agency asked for more protection regarding racial abuse. “Tonight’s racist remarks made towards Romelu Lukaku by <a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/juventus-tv-schedule/">Juventus</a> fans in Turin were beyond despicable and cannot be accepted,” <a href="https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11860/12851399/romelu-lukaku-juventus-handed-one-game-partial-stadium-ban-over-racist-abuse-of-inter-milan-striker" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">proclaimed</a> Roc Nation’s Michael Yormark. “The Italian authorities must use this opportunity to tackle racism, rather than punish the victim of the abuse.”</p>



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<div class="ck-twitter"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">LATE COPPA ITALIA DRAMA 🌶️<br><br>Romelu Lukaku sends Mattia Perin the wrong way to secure the draw for Inter and is sent off with a red card. 🍿 <a href="https://t.co/Rb7DobIrK5">pic.twitter.com/Rb7DobIrK5</a></p>— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) <a href="https://twitter.com/CBSSportsGolazo/status/1643357658400051200?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 4, 2023</a></blockquote></div><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>



<p>The referee brandished a second yellow card to Lukaku during his celebration of the equalizer. As a result, the big Belgian misses the return leg of the Coppa Italia semifinal.</p>



<h5>Two fans reportedly arrested for the racial abuse</h5>



<p><a href="https://football-italia.net/juventus-identify-and-ban-racist-fan-for-life/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Reports</a> in Italy claim that police have arrested an adult and a minor for racially abusing Lukaku. The adult picked up a lifetime ban from the stadium. The minor’s ban lasts 10 years at Allianz Stadium.</p>



<p>Juventus issued a statement about their response regarding racism on Wednesday. “Racism and discrimination will not go away from football stadiums with the flick of a magic wand,” the <a href="https://www.juventus.com/en/news/articles/juventus-commitment-against-racism-and-discrimination-x1574" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">statement</a> read. “However, they can be contained through systematic, coherent, and coordinated action conducted by people who share the same goal: To promote cultural diversity and real social integration in the football world.”</p>



<p>Fellow Italian club Lazio also received a similar partial stadium ban earlier in the week. Lazio fans sang racist and antisemitic chants during their matchup with rivals Roma.</p>



<p><em>PHOTO: IMAGO / Marco Canoniero</em></p>


Serie A officials placed a stadium ban of one game on one section at Juventus after Romelu Lukaku was racial abused by fans.

Juventus given one-match partial stadium ban for racial abuse


<p>LaLiga president Javier Tebas has claimed that <a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/teams/barcelona-tv-schedule/">Barcelona</a> boss Joan Laporta should resign if he can’t offer a valid explanation over corruption and referee payments. The Spanish club has come under fire for <a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/news/barcelona-unlikely-to-be-sanctioned-for-payments-to-referee-20230216-WST-420103.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">paying a former vice president of the Referees Committee</a> in the country. José María Enríquez Negreira, who was also previously a LaLiga referee, reportedly received over $8.5 million from Barca since 2003.</p>



<p>“If he does not explain what they were paying for, I think he should step down,” Tebas <a href="https://www.espn.com/soccer/barcelona-espbarcelona/story/4883465/barcelona-president-laporta-should-resign-if-theres-no-explanation-for-referee-scandal-tebas" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">told</a> reporters on Monday.</p>



<p>“He has not offered a reasonable explanation for these payments. In Barca’s statement, it was as if every football club does the same. It is evident they do not. One thing is to have ex-referees [offering advice]; another is to have ex-referees who are on the refereeing committee.”</p>



<p>“[Laporta] will have to explain why, in his first spell as president, he did this. It is something I would like cleared up. It’s not just the three seasons [being investigated by tax office], it’s many more.”</p>



<h5>Club claims payments are common practice among top teams</h5>



<p>Barca <a href="https://www.fcbarcelona.com/en/club/news/3065705/fc-barcelona-official-announcement" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">have insisted</a> that these payments were for “technical reports” on referees in Spain. They also suggested that these types of deals are “common practice” and many other clubs pay for similar reports. However, former Barca president Josep Maria Bartomeu <a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/news/bartomeu-claims-ex-ref-attempted-to-extort-barca-20230218-WST-420417.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">recently stated</a> that Negreira attempted to extort the club when the payments stopped. The ref threatened to expose his financial relationship with the team to league offices.</p>



<h2>Barcelona president labels LaLiga President obsessed over corruption</h2>



<p>Current Barca boss Joan Laporta has responded to Tebas’s comments regarding his possible resignation. The club president claimed that Tebas is obsessed with Barca. “Mr. Tebas has come to the fore again,” Laporta <a href="https://www.espn.com/soccer/barcelona-espbarcelona/story/4883465/barcelona-president-laporta-should-resign-if-theres-no-explanation-for-referee-scandal-tebas">said</a> on Tuesday. “We had been warned that he is promoting a campaign against Barca and against me as a person… now the mask has come off.”</p>



<p>“His obsession with Barca continues. I want to remind you that he is someone that has shown throughout his career that he is anti-Barcelona. In 2005, he didn’t want Messi to play for Barca and fought [his registration], for example.”</p>



<p>“He has not forgiven us for not signing the agreement with CVC, when we signed much better agreements for the club. He also can’t stand the Super League.”</p>



<p>“Mr. Tebas has now said that I should step down. His intention is to control Barca from afar. He is always trying to destabilize us. What do I say to him? That I won’t give him the pleasure. Barcelona is owned by the members.”</p>



<p>Barca will not be facing any significant sporting sanctions by <a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/la-liga-tv-schedule/">LaLiga</a> for the payments. Sporting statute of limitations inside Spain is currently just three years and the payments go back at least five years.</p>



<p><em>PHOTO: IMAGO / Marca</em></p>


LaLiga president Javier Tebas has suggested that Barcelona boss Joan Laporta should resign from the club over referee corruption claims.

ALL POSTS TAGGED "punishment"

Coppa Italia

Juventus given one-match partial stadium ban for racial abuse

Barcelona

LaLiga boss calls for Barcelona president to quit over corruption