Lecce, Italy

World Cup winning defender with France Samuel Umtiti along with his Lecce teammate Lameck Banda were attacked with racial abuse from the travelling Lazio fans during the side’s home match in Serie A on Wednesday, December 4th. As reported by the Italian news agency Ansa, Lazio fans hurled racist insults at Banda during the first half and at Umtiti in the next.

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It was during the second half when the referee stopped the game after the stadium announcers called for the abuse to stop. After the match, Umtiti was seen leaving the pitch in tears while receiving a standing ovation from the home fans.

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As quoted in Italian newspaper, Gazzetta dello Sport - Lecce president, Saverio Sticchi Damiani even commented on the matter, saying “He (Umtiti) wanted to respond on the pitch to the insults. He reacted like a true champion."

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Even on the club’s twitter handle, it was written, “The racist insults were drowned out by the cheers of encouragement for our champion!" along with the hashtag - #KeepRacismOut

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Samuel Umtiti, who is currently on loan at Lecce from Barcelona, even posted a picture on his Instagram handle saying, "Only football, fun, joy. The rest doesn't count."

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FIFA president Gianni Infantino also sent out a message in support of Umtiti and Banda by posting this on his Instagram handle, “Let’s shout it loud and clear: NO TO RACISM! May the huge majority of fans, who are good people, stand up to shut up all the racists once and for all!"

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Meanwhile, home team Lecce won the match against Lazio 2-1.

While Lazio is sitting in the fifth place with 30 points in 16 matches, Lecce is struggling in the other half of the table with just 18 points in 16 games played.

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