Inter Milan reacted with incomprehension to the lifted spectator exclusion for the Italian soccer record champion Juventus Turin.
“It’s sad that the victim has become the sole culprit,” Inter said on Friday, referring to striker Romelu Lukaku, who was racially insulted by Juve fans in the first leg of the cup semi-final in early April.
Because of his subsequent reaction towards the Turin fans, Lukaku, who had already been warned, received a yellow card and will therefore miss the second leg next Wednesday.
Turin was sentenced to a spectator exclusion because of the incident. On the other hand, the club successfully appealed to the sports court of the Italian football association FIGC and thus emerged from the incident without punishment.
According to his agency, Lukaku had been racially abused in the cup game “before, during and after the penalty kick” to the 1-1 final score. The Belgian celebrated the equalizer in front of the Juve fans after the penalty – he saluted and put his index finger to his mouth. Because of this “provocation” he saw his second yellow card.