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Cagliari avoid punishment over alleged racist abuse of Romelu Lukaku

Cagliari avoid punishment over alleged racist abuse of Romelu Lukaku
© Reuters
The Serie A club had been under investigation following the events of September 1.

Cagliari have avoided punishment after supporters allegedly aimed racist abuse at Inter Milan striker Romelu Lukaku earlier this month.

Former Manchester United player Lukaku appeared to be subjected to monkey chants as he prepared to take – and score – a match-winning penalty in Inter's 2-1 Serie A victory on September 1 at the Sardegna Arena.

However, following an investigation the Italian Football Federation's (FIGC) sporting justice panel has ruled that the chants could not be considered discriminatory in terms of their "scale and realisation".

Lukaku faced chanting from the Sardegna Arena stands as he prepared to take a penalty for Inter Milan
Lukaku faced chanting from the Sardegna Arena stands as he prepared to take a penalty for Inter Milan (Martin Rickett/PA)

A statement from Lega Serie A on Tuesday said the panel had therefore decided not to apply sanctions to Cagliari.

Cagliari police told FIGC investigators that "only on the occasion" of Lukaku's penalty were "chants, shouts and whistles aimed at the opposition athlete as he prepared to take his shot".

Individual spectators were observed chanting at the Belgian but, because of the volume of the noise emanating from the stand, it was not clear what was being said and so it could not be proven that it was discriminatory.

After the match, Lukaku urged action against racism in football.

The 26-year-old wrote on Instagram: "Football is a game to be enjoyed by everyone and we shouldn't accept any form of discrimination that will put our game in shame. I hope the football federations all over (the) world react strongly on all cases of discrimination."

Cagliari were, meanwhile, fined 5,000 euros (£4,430) after fans threw bottles onto the Stadio Ennio Tardini pitch during Sunday's 3-1 league win at Parma.

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Ian Wright pictured in March 2018
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TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
CInter Milan35285281196289
2AC Milan35218667422571
3Juventus351812548272166
4Bologna351713549272264
5Atalanta BCAtalanta341861063382560
6Roma35179962422060
7Lazio35175134537856
8Napoli351312105344951
9Fiorentina341481251391250
10Torino351114103131047
11Monza351112123846-845
12Genoa351013124143-243
13Lecce35813143250-1837
14Hellas VeronaHellas Verona35810173346-1334
15CagliariCagliari35712163760-2333
16FrosinoneFrosinone35711174363-2032
17Empoli3588192650-2432
18Udinese35418133352-1930
19SassuoloSassuolo3578204170-2929
RSalernitana3529242775-4815


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