‘History repeats’: Romelu Lukaku demands ‘real action’ on racism in Instagram post after Juventus fans made monkey noises after he scored against them… as Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Jr and other stars offer him their backing
Romelu Lukaku has called on Italy’s football authorities to clamp down hard on those Juventus fans who racially abused him with vile monkey chants.
The Inter Milan striker asked whether anything had changed from the time he was racially abused by Cagliari fans in 2019, with various incidents in between.
On Tuesday night, Lukaku was subjected to monkey chants from a section of Juventus supporters behind the goal where he converted a penalty in the fifth minute of stoppage time to earn Inter a 1-1 draw in their Coppa Italia semi-final first leg.
Video footage showed the fans chanting ‘f***ing monkey’ and ‘f*** off’ at Lukaku, who was shown a second yellow card and sent off for shushing and saluting them during his celebrations.
Taking to Instagram on Wednesday, Lukaku wrote: ‘History repeats. Been through it in 2019… and 2023 again…
‘I hope the league really take actions for real this time because this beautiful game should be enjoyed by everyone.
‘Thank you for the supportive messages. F**k racism.’
Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Jr, Reece James and Thibaut Courtois were among Lukaku’s peers who posted supportive comments on the post.
Inter condemned the abuse in a statement on their website on Wednesday, while Juventus have promised to ban those found guilty.
Lukaku, who is on loan at Inter from Chelsea, suffered racist abuse during his first spell with the Italian club between 2019 and 2021.
In September 2019, he said the game was ‘going backwards’ when Cagliari fans abused him with monkey chants when he scored Inter’s winning goal.
Back then, Lukaku called on football’s authorities and social media companies to take a stronger stand against racial discrimination.
In September 2021, Lukaku said racism in football was at an ‘all-time high’ and again called on authorities to take a stand.
And in January this year, Serie A opened an investigation into allegations of racist abuse towards Lukaku by Napoli fans.
On Tuesday, the Belgian striker was subjected to monkey chants from a section of Juventus supporters behind the goal after he converted a penalty in the fifth minute of stoppage time to salvage a 1-1 draw.
Video footage showed Juventus fans chanting ‘f***ing monkey’ and ‘f*** off’ at Lukaku, who was shown a second yellow card and sent off for shushing them during his celebrations.
Lukaku’s representatives Roc Nation insisted was a normal part of his celebration.
Lukaku was also seen mouthing something towards the Juventus fans, with Football Italia reporting him to say ‘muto’ – an Italian equivalent of telling someone to shut up.
Inter released a statement on Wednesday morning which read: ‘We are brothers and sisters of the world. Since 9 March 1908 this has been our story.
‘We want to firmly reiterate that we stand united against racism and all forms of discrimination.
‘Football and sport must not only be a place for emotion but also for clear and shared values, and what we saw last night in the final minutes of the Juventus vs Inter Coppa Italia semi-final in Turin has no place in our sport.
‘This is why we reiterate our support, affection and solidarity to Romelu Lukaku, just as the world of football is doing from all over since the incident.
‘Stay strong Rom, we stand with you!’
Roc Nation in their own statement condemned the ‘despicable’ racist insults from fans against the striker, saying he was sent off ‘to punish the victim of abuse’.
The statement made by president Michael Yormack said: ‘Tonight’s racist remarks made towards Romelu Lukaku by Juventus fans in Turin were beyond despicable and cannot be accepted.
‘Romelu scored a penalty late in the game. Before, during, and after the penalty, he was subjected to hostile and disgusting racist abuse.
‘Romelu celebrated in the same manner he has previously celebrated goals. The referee’s response was to award a yellow card to Romelu.
‘Romelu deserves an apology from Juventus, and I expect the League to condemn the behaviour of this group of Juventus supporters immediately.
‘The Italian authorities must use this opportunity to tackle racism, rather than punish the victim of the abuse.
‘I am certain that the footballing world shares the same sentiment.’
After what had largely been an uneventful match, things heated up after Juan Cuadrado’s 83rd minute goal was cancelled out by Lukaku.
Following the Belgian’s red card for a second yellow, he was then involved in a shoving match with Juventus scorer Cuadrado.
Cuadrado was then involved in another dispute after the final whistle with Inter Milan goalkeeper Samir Handanovic – which led to both men also receiving red cards.
Players from both teams got involved as the situation threatened to turn into a scuffle between those in Inter Milan and Juventus colours.
Inter Milan boss Simeone Inzaghi said that he hoped Lukaku’s second yellow card would be rescinded.
Inzaghi pointed out how Ademola Lookman had a yellow card rescinded after the Atalanta forward was bizarrely booked for his trademark glasses celebration in a game against Udinese back in October.
‘There will be images and I hope this yellow card will be revoked, as it happened with [Ademola] Lookman, Lukaku always celebrates like this,’ argued Inzaghi.
‘The lad was misunderstood, he received a second yellow card and was sent off. The end wasn’t nice. Now I only think that I’ve lost Lukaku and Samir Handanovic for the second leg, two important players for us.’
Juventus boss Massimiliano Allegri said about the chaotic ending: ‘I don’t know what happened at the end of the game, because after the penalty kick, it was all over. It seemed strange to me that nothing had happened during the game.’
The situation at the end of the match calmed down, but they are due to meet again in the second leg on April 26 at the San Siro.