Italian Serie A club Hellas Verona have been charged by the Serie A disciplinary tribunal after fans of the club allegedly directed monkey chants to Ghana international Sulley Muntari in AC Milan’s game on Sunday.
The Italian club has denied the accusation but the disciplinary body outlined that about 3000 of the 5000 fans in Hellas Verona’s Curva Sud took part in chanting which was ‘clearly heard in other parts of the stadium’ whenever Sulley Muntari had possession of the ball.
The Serie A disciplinary tribunal said:
“Such behaviour is a clear example of discrimination because of race.”
Hellas Verona have been ordered to close part of their stadium for the next home game and also been fined €50 000.
The club however strongly denied the accusation with a statement which reads:
“We believe that the television pictures are sufficient to refute categorically the biggest non-truth which, today, has been aimed at our glorious club and our glorious fans
“In over 110 years of history, nobody has ever dared to say anything like this about us. No fan, no representative of the police, nor the Milan club, nor the player Sulley Muntari, or media present at the stadium on the day of the day … spoke of such an incident, leaving our club even more perplexed and angry about the action taken.”
AC Milan won the game away from home by three goals to one to claim all three points. Ghana international Michael Essien also played the full duration of the game.
SOURCE: allsports.com.gh