Italian football and the Italian League are no strangers when it comes to scandals, investigations, racism and everything that goes along those lines. A few years ago during the 2006 Italian football scandal, major clubs such as: Ac.Milan, Juventus, Fiorentina and Lazio were found guilty of rigging matches and a number of punishments were given to the clubs as well as to the individuals involved.
Juventus, Fiorentina and Lazio had to be relegated to the 2nd division in Italian Football which is Serie B as well as having points deducted. The referees that were caught doing this scandal were banned between a periods of 3 months to 5 years from football while some of them were even jailed.
Mario Balotelli and the former Ac.Milan player Kevin-Prince Boateng are some of the performers that have been hit with racial abuse when performing in the Italian League, Serie A. This has even led to matches having to be cancelled due to number of crowds and racial chants which has affected players in the playing grounds.
One of the latest incidents of this nature that has popped up involves the president of the Italian football federation (FIGC) Carlo Tavecchio and a series of alleged racist remarks. Tavecchio was selected as the president of the FIGC a few days ago but he will now be facing a disciplinary investigation after making a speech involving a fictitious player called: Opti Poba who had “previously ate bananas and then suddenly becomes a first team player with Lazio.”
Carlo Tavecchio has a criminal record which dates back to 1970 as he has been sentenced in numerous occasions as he has been found guilty of tax evasion, falsification of reports and a number of other incidents and now the Italian executive can add to his portfolio claims of racism.