Italian Rugby in Racism Row After Guinea Born Star is Involved in Banana Joke

• Italian rugby has been brought into disrepute following allegations of racism involving two players at United Rugby Championship team Benetton Treviso
• Benetton and Azzurri player Cherif Traore was the victim of a tasteless Secret Santa gift
• His one contained a rotten banana, a joke which fell very flat and led to a crisis of sorts

An unnamed player has been suspended for a racist joke that was aimed at his Benetton Treviso teammate Cherif Traore.

The player in question sent the Guinean-born Italian national prop a rotten banana as part of the team's Secret Santa gift-swapping Christmas tradition. The racist connotations did not go down well whatever the intentions of the prank were.

The FIR and club said in a statement according to BBC Sport Africa:

"The FIR informs that the federal prosecutor has launched the investigations necessary to ascertain the facts, as well as the collective and individual responsibilities, to protect the founding values and reputation of the game.

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"Benetton Rugby has simultaneously decided to suspend one of its members as a precaution, for the entire duration of the investigations by the public prosecutor's office."

SA Rugby Magazine reported that the United Rugby Championship's leadership has demanded a full report on the unsavoury incident.

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TV Danmark 2 has been forced to eat humble pie after the embarrassing gaffe by one of its news anchors.

Christian Høgh Andersen got into hot water after comparing Morocco's players celebrating with their families with monkeys on a segment of the channel, which sparked a heated response worldwide.

This forced the channel to apologise after the video was broadcast worldwide by Al-Jazeera.

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Racism in football has reared its ugly head once again, this time after the FIFA World Cup final.

Argentina beat France in the final in a penalty shootout, after the game finished 3-3 after extra time.

French stars Aurelien Tchouameni and Kingsley Coman became the target of racial abuse after Les Bleus' penalty shootout defeat to Argentina.