Italian rugby team suspends player who gave banana as a gift to black teammate

The Benetton Trevisto rugby club announced this Thursday (22) the suspension of one of its athletes after a black player on the team told on his social networks that he would have given him a banana as a Christmas present.

Cherif Traorè, 28, who also plays for Italy’s national rugby team, wrote on his Instagram this Wednesday (21) that other players laughed when he opened the gift. Afterwards, he said he had accepted an apology.

The rugby team had issued two statements on Wednesday, but without suggesting they intended to investigate the incident or take concrete action against the now-suspended player.

On Thursday, however, the club said prosecutors would investigate the case “to protect the core values ​​and reputation of the game”.

The note also states that the player who gave the banana as a gift to Traorè will be suspended until the end of the investigations as “a precautionary measure”. The athlete’s name was not revealed.

The club also said that it is up to the authorities to sanction the sporting or administrative association.

Traorè was born in Guinea, but has lived in Italy since he was seven years old. He stated on Instagram that he normally doesn’t react to what he called “racist jokes” so as not to make enemies.

This time, however, he wrote that he decided “not to remain silent to ensure that episodes like this do not happen again” and that his colleague’s behavior would be “seriously condemned outside Italy”.

Still according to the post, the act took place in a kind of secret friend.

It is not the first case of racist attacks on black Italian sportsmen. In football, they are constantly teased by fans.

In October, volleyball player Paola Egonu announced that she would temporarily withdraw from the Italian national team following questions about her nationality. She was born in Italy.