Jose Mourinho’s Intervention Helps Roma Avoid Severe Punishment for Racist Chant

Jose Mourinho’s Intervention Helps Roma Avoid Severe Punishment for Racist Chant

Elijah Odetokun
updated at April 12, 2023 at 8:29 PM
In this article:
Italian Serie A logo
ITA Serie A
Italy
  • Jose Mourinho guided AS Roma to a 3-0 win over Sampdoria on Sunday
  • Sampdoria is managed by Mourinho's former player at Inter Milan Dejan Stankovic
  • The Serbian was targeted with racial slurs during the game by Roma fans

Jose Mourinho's AS Roma returned to winning ways at the weekend, beating Sampdoria 3-0 after two league losses against Sassuolo and a derby loss against Lazio.

Georgino Wijnaldum, Paulo Dybala and a beautiful strike from Stephan El Shaarawy helped the Italian capital club to a victory which moved them closer to the top four.

There was an ugly incident during the game. The visiting team went down to 10 men after Colombian midfielder Jeison Murillo was shown a red card, and head coach Dejan Stankovic reacted furiously.

Jose Mourinho, AS Roma, Stadio Olimpico, Italian Serie A.
Jose Mourinho intervened in defence of Dejan Stankovic against racist Roma fans. Photos by Massimo Insabato.
Source: Getty Images

Racist chants from Roma fans met his reaction. According to Football Italia, Mourinho gestured to the fans to stop the chants and spoke on the incident in defence of his former player after the game.

Exciting feature: Check out news exactly for YOU ➡️ click on "Recommended for you" and enjoy!

Roma fined for racist chant

Jose Mourinho's intervention during the game was well acknowledged by an Italian sporting judge, who decided on the incident and was lenient on the club.

“Roma have been fined €8,000 following insulting chants towards the opposing coach by the entirety of supporters in Curva Sud. The sanction is mitigated because chants were not repeated after the active intervention of their coach,” the judge said in a statement via Tutto Mercato.

Speaking after the game, the Special One expressed disappointment at the fans. He claimed to have grown a thick skin against such behaviours and urged Stankovic to do the same.

The Serbian thanked his former boss and claimed not to have paid attention, and further expressed pride in his gypsy roots.

Lukaku sent off for celebration

In another development, there was an incident of racism in Italian football last night in the Coppa Italia game between Juventus and Inter Milan.

Chelsea striker Romelu Lukaku endured a difficult evening from the Old Lady fans before he scored from the spot in the closing stages to finish the game levels.

Sports Brief reported that Lukaku was sent off for excessive celebration after doing shush to the fans who had abused him throughout the game, much to the disappointment of many football viewers.

Authors
Elijah Odetokun photo
Elijah Odetokun
Elijah Odetokun is Reuters-trained journalist with three years of experience having previously worked at Daily Times Nigeria, OmaSports and El Futbolero.
Tags
Jose Mourinho