For those of you more familiar with Italy than me, I have a question to ask, a question based solely on what I see from supporters at Serie A matches and Azzurri contests: Is racism a major, embarrassingly large issue on the Apennine Peninsula?
How Much Does Italy Supporters’ Treatment Of Mario Balotelli Exemplify Their Country?
I don’t know. I’ve never been there, but I watch a ton of Serie A and eventually watch every match the national team plays, and it seems like the frequency of racial abuse is disturbingly, horribly high. It’s so high that I’m wondering if the country is secretly one of the most racially insensitive places in the world. Yes, that’s the potential conclusion of somebody whose view of the world is through the lens of soccer, but does any country want to be portrayed as racist? Through any lens?
Whether it wants to or not, Italy and its football continues to be colored by racism. Samuel Eto'o has dealt with it since his transfer to Internazionale from Barcelona, and Mario Balotelli continues to be slurred by his countrymen. On Wednesday, while the Manchester City attacker was representing Italy in the Azzurri's match against Romania (played in Austria), Balotelli received boos every time he touched the ball, a message of rejection from a group of 100 Italy supporters in attendance.
Those boos were mild compared to the disgusting signage on display at HypoArena. Although it was eventually confiscated, a sign reading “No to a multi-ethnic national team” was on display long enough to define the match. No longer were people interested in an Italy team giving debuts to four players, including Argentine-born midfielder Cristian Ledesma.On Wednesday, Italy and the Azzurri was defined by its worst.
Mario Balotelli has enough demons without Italy supporters trying to bring the worst out of him. Ironically, in doing so, they’re only showing the worst of themselves. From the distance of being half a world away, I can’t tell the extent to which those supporters exemplify the country. Where international soccer is often emblematic of the world’s various cultures, I would hate to think Italy’s soccer reflects its society. Unfortunately, with this kind of racism being common at Azzurri and Serie A matches, I have to consider that it might.
Again, I know little about Italy. I’ve never been there, but based on what I’ve seen from its soccer, I really want to know - want to know from those more knowledgeable than me: How much does the racism exhibited by some Italy supporters reflect attitudes within the country?
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