Juve fined again for anti-Balotelli chants

Juventus were on Monday fined for the second time this season for chants their fans directed against Inter Milan’s black striker Mario Balotelli.

Juve were hit with a 25,000-euro penalty just a couple of weeks after they were fined 20,000 euros following a match against Udinese.

Both times it was the Italian under-21 striker of Ghanaian origin who bore the brunt of the fans’ wrath.

Italy’s sporting judge deemed the chants to have constituted “racial discrimination” and said they had been directed against two Inter players, presumably meaning the other one was either Cameroon’s Samuel Eto’o or Muntari Sulley of Ghana.

AFP’s reporter at the game was not aware, however, of any chants of a racial nature or of anyone other than Balotelli being targeted.

Some sections of Juve fans sang: ‘if you jump up and down Balotelli will die’ and ‘you’re nothing but a piece of shit’.

However, many more fans tried to drown out those chants with boos and jeers, although at times it was difficult to fathom whether Balotelli himself was being jeered or if it was those chanting.

The sporting judge said the level of fine had been reduced “because the club took concrete measures to help the forces of order and to prevent such deplorable behaviour”.

He added that other fans had “demonstrated their disaproval of that behaviour”.

Last year Juventus were forced to play a match behind closed doors after chants of “a black man can’t be Italian” were heard during the corresponding fixture against Inter.

Juve midfielder Felipe Melo, who was sent off on Saturday after a clash with Balotelli, and Inter coach Jose Mourinho, dismissed for protesting Juve’s first goal, both received one-match suspensions.

Meanwhile, Roma and Lazio were both hit with 40,000-euro fines after their fans set off flares and bangers during Sunday’s Rome derby, forcing the match at the Stadio Olimpico to be suspended for several minutes just after the start.