Mourinho: what a lesson on racist chants. But now it goes on

“You’re a gypsy, you’re a gypsy, you’re a gypsy…”, the loud and clear chorus was incessantly repeated by the Romanist southern curve towards Stankovic, the Serbian coach of Sampdoria with a long experience in Lazio. Deki stood proud in front of his bench as the insults continued, until José Mourinho said enough.

SIGN

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The Roma coach, who shared the triumphs with Stankovic as an Inter player, got up from his bench, gave a slight nod to his face and then raising his hand towards his fans made it clear that it was the case to stop. The leader and leader of Rome and the Romanists was heard: the choirs stopped. In one fell swoop with his gesture Mourinho achieved three fundamental things: 1) defended a colleague and a friend in the face of indecent racial discrimination; 2) saved Roma from a much heavier fine than the 8,000 euros imposed, and avoided the closure of the sector for the next internal match. 3) he behaved like a man giving a lesson in civilization. At the end of the game José said that he would have done it for anyone, but even more for a friend of his who “doesn’t touch himself”.

THE SERBIAN

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Stankovic, on the other hand, admitted, perhaps telling a little lie, that he hadn’t heard anything and that, in any case, “gypsy” is not an offense to him because he proudly feels like one. An answer that is very reminiscent of those given by his “brother” Sinisa Mihajlovic who also muscularly added a “but come and tell me in private…”.

CONSEQUENCES

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If the most important, influential and followed protagonists – whether they are managers, coaches, captains and simple players – did like Mou, so many hateful chants and episodes that we cyclically hear and see in stadiums, would decrease. The distancing of champions and leaders from their fans represents a much stronger deterrent for the latter to repeat certain nonsense than any fine that they will never pay anyway. Think what a powerful image if in front of the bullshit and the racist howls, the discriminatory chants, the boorish offenses towards an opponent on the pitch, the protagonists of the home team were to say enough. Most of the time they prefer to lower their heads and close their ears. The exasperated and bullfighting atmosphere that reigns in the stadiums, too often confused with passion, leads them to justify and accept everything. Most of the time they are silent for convenience, a quiet life or because they themselves are the target of insults, discrimination, hateful chants in the opposing stadiums. In other words: it happens to us too… We’ve been waiting for a long time for an opponent to defend a black player being targeted, for the idols of those who sing those to silence the anti-Semitic chants, or to protect the targeted coach from offenses is the colleague of the other bench. Mourinho has taught a lesson, now it should only be followed.