December 5 – When more than 12,000 school children were allowed to occupy the stands behind both goals normally used by Juventus’ infamous Ultras, who had been banned for abusive chanting, the Italian giants must have hoped they were sending out the right message.
How unfortunate, then, that the replacement kids themselves hurled insults towards visiting Udinese goalkeeper Zeljko Brkic, leading to the club receiving a token fine of €5,000.
An official statement from the Italian FA said the sanction was handed out “because (very young…) fans repeatedly directed an offensive chant at a footballer of the opposition team.”
“I wanted to say something immediately after the game because I was quite shocked by it but I didn’t want to stir up a fuss so I kept quiet,” explained Udinese coach Francesco Guidolin two days on from the match in Turin.
“For a club like Juve, where everything is great – especially at their new stadium where it doesn’t even seem like you’re in Italy anymore – hearing that word every time the keeper kicks the ball up field is really irritating.
“It’s a question of culture and sporting conduct: they were copying, but they need to be given a positive example to follow. It was great to hear all the kids yelling – apart from when our keeper took goal kicks.
“It’s something that should get talked about because it wasn’t nice at all. We must try to educate people on how to support teams. We mustn’t send out messages of aggravation to the younger generations.”
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