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Italy's AS Roma adds 'Black Lives Matter' badge to players' shirts

AFP/The Local
AFP/The Local - [email protected]
Italy's AS Roma adds 'Black Lives Matter' badge to players' shirts
AS Roma players training at the Trigoria training ground on the outskirts of Rome in 2018. File photo: AFP

Players from the Serie A football club will display a 'Black Lives Matter' anti-racism badge on their shirts for the remainder of the season which resumes this weekend, the Italian club announced on Thursday.

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"We feel it's a timely opportunity to communicate an important message to millions of television viewers around the world," said Paul Rogers, chief
strategy officer at AS Roma said on the club's official website.
 
"Not being racist isn't enough. We must be anti-racist," he continued speaking of the global protests sparked by the killing of George Floyd in the
United States.

Italian football is plagued by racism, with players of African origin often targeted for abuse.

Brazilian player Dalbert of Fiorentina, Inter Milan's Belgian striker

Romelu Lukaku and AC Milan's Ivorian Franck Kessie have been targeted by monkey calls this season.
 
Blaise Matuidi, Kalidou Koulibaly and Moise Kean were also victims last season.
 
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In September, Roma banned a fan for life and informed the police of racist abuse aimed at their own Brazilian fullback Juan Jesus and in October they issued an apology after their supporters racially abused Sampdoria's English midfielder Ronaldo Vieira.
 
The American-owned Italian team will return to action after the three-month coronavirus shutdown against Sampdoria in an empty Stadio Olimpico next Wednesday.
 
Players will wear the badge featuring two clasped hands - one black and one white - with the words 'Black Lives Matter' and 'Assieme' ('Together' in Italian) for a total of 12 Serie A games, the last of which will be in Turin against Juventus.
 
The club, who are fifth in Serie A and battling for Champions League football next season, will then auction off all the worn shirts to raise money for anti-racism groups and the Roma Cares group, to help develop new club-run, anti-racist initiatives with children in Italy.

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Anonymous 2020/06/19 04:55
What a load of BS! Black Lives Matter only if a white cop kills a black. But you never hear a word from the media or BLM when a black kills a white, or a black kills a black! There is no country in the world which has given more opportunities to people of all races. On any given day in the US, there are literally millions of interactions between people of all races, and they are conducted in a friendly, courteous, and civil manner. The US has spent over 4 TRILLION US dollars on minority programs over the past 40 years, and yet, it is never enough! Only 19% of the US population is black, yet they commit 64% of crime. Unfortunately, the narrative pushed by the left is that the US is a racist country, and nothing could be further from the truth. The fact that organizations all over the world have bought into this BS is amazing. Disgusting....

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