January 25 – French club Bastia have banned a supporter who made monkey chants at Nice’s Italian striker Mario Balotelli during last Friday’s Ligue 1 match.
The Corsican club said in a statement that the unnamed supporter, a season ticket holder in his 40s, had turned up on Tuesday and confessed to his actions.
Bastia had put out an appeal for information on local television after reviewing broadcast images that picked out an individual making monkey chants during the warm-up.
Balotelli posted a message on his Instagram page the day after leaders Nice drew 1-1, saying the incident was a “real shame”.
“I have a question for French people…Is it normal that Bastia supporters make monkey noise and ‘uh-uh’ for the whole game and no-one of the “commissions discipline” say nothing?,” wrote the player, on loan from Liverpool this season.
“So is racism LEGAL in France? Or only in Bastia?,” he added. “Football is an amazing sport…those people like Bastia supporters make it horrible.”
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