JAY-Z’s Roc Nation has spoken out in defense of soccer star Romelu Lukaku, who was the target of racist abuse during a Coppa Italia semi-final match in Italy earlier this week.
Roc Nation released a defiant statement calling on Italy, its fans and the “worldwide community of sports” to come together and “hold bigots accountable to a human standard” in an effort to stamp out such racist behavior in sports.
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Hov’s company purchased a full-page ad in the Italian newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport declaring “enough is enough” after Lukaku — who is repped by Roc Nation Sports — endured racist gibes during Inter Milan’s away match against Juventus on Tuesday (April 4).
Juve fans taunted Lukaku throughout the 1-1 draw and mocked him after he scored a penalty inside the Allianz Stadium in Turin by making monkey noises and spewing racial epithets at the Belgian striker.
“Dear Italy, Do better. Want better. Be better,” Roc Nation’s message read. “In professional football, Black players have been subjected to hatred during professional football games.
“The hatred has displayed itself in the form of monkey chants, racial slurs and banana peels tossed at the best players in the world, as the world watches, as the children watch, as the players’ families watch.”
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Roc Nation continued by calling for more concrete action from the powers that be: “No one has faced any consequences for this heinous behavior. Nothing has changed. No action has been taken.
“We call on the worldwide community of sports — players, team owners, artists, brands and all fans — to denounce this racist behavior and hold bigots accountable to a human standard. One which upholds decency, respect and compassion for others. The first team is the human team. Let’s work together to cut racism out of the game, for good.”
Roc Nation Sports International President Michael Yormark added: “Tonight’s racist remarks made towards Romelu Lukaku by Juventus fans in Turin were beyond despicable and cannot be accepted.”
Romelu Lukaku addressed the hate following the match in an Instagram post featuring a photo of him silencing the crowd after scoring his last-minute penalty equalizer.
“History repeats. Been through it in 2019.. and 2023 again.. I hope the league really take actions for real this time because this beautiful game should be enjoyed by everyone,” he wrote. “Thank you for the supportive messages.”
French superstar Kylian Mbappé also came to Lukaku’s defense, writing on his Instagram Story: “2023 and still the same problems. But we’re not going to let it keep happening. All against racism.”
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Unfortunately, this is far from the first time Lukaku has been the target of racism on the pitch in Italy. Back in 2019, a group of Italian fans disgustingly hurled racist remarks at the 29-year-old after scoring in a contest against Cagliari.
