The president of the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) Carlo Tavecchio has been banned six months by UEFA after he used the phrase “ate bananas” when referring to the signing of a fictitious foreign player during his election campaign over the summer.
UEFA bans FIGC president Carlo Tavecchio six months for racial slur
The head of the FIGC has been banned six month by UEFA after the Italian federation chose not to punish him.
Paolo Bruno
Here instead we get Opti Pobà, who previously ate bananas and then suddenly becomes a first-team player with Lazio. That's how it is here. In England, you need to demonstrate what you have on your CV and your pedigree.
The 71-year-old was elected in August, beating out former AC Milan player Demetrio Albertini, despite his racist remarks.
His election caused wide outrage, but the FIGC’s internal prosecutor dropped his inquiry over the remark last month. However, UEFA stepped in to implement their own ban.
The trouble is, it doesn’t stop Tavecchio from serving as FIGC president and only bans him from carrying out duties on the UEFA Youth and Amateur Football committee, or attending the next UEFA Congress in 2015.
There really isn’t much else UEFA can do. Even if they want to take a stand against executives using racist language, they can’t force the Italian FA to do the same.
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