The gesture, scandalous, had caused a real outcry beyond the Alps. He was heavily sanctioned by the Italian Rugby Federation (FIR) on Friday. Transalpine international prop Ivan Nemer has been suspended until the end of the season for his racist gesture towards fellow countryman and club-mate Cherif Traoré, of Guinean descent. Nemer, born in Argentina, has given up appealing, the FIR said in a statement on Friday.
An investigation had been opened, to discover who was the author of this shocking gesture. On December 21, the Italian international pillar explained on his Instagram account that he had discovered a rotten banana the day before in a package, while the players of the Treviso club were gathered to celebrate Christmas in advance and offered gifts of anonymously. “Not only is the gesture shocking, but what hurt me the most was seeing most of my teammates present laughing. As if everything was normal, ”denounced the player on social networks.
“I had to get used to looking good”
Before adding: “I am used, or rather I had to get used to putting on a good face every time I heard racist jokes (…) but what happened yesterday is different”. His club, which reiterated its “firm condemnation of any expression of racism” in a press release, then explained that the entire team and management had been reunited and that the players had apologized to Traoré.
In its press release on Friday, the FIR clarified that in defining Ivan Nemer’s sanction, it had taken “into consideration the desire (of the player) to shed full light on what had happened, the apologies presented to his teammate , recognition of the disruption caused by his behavior in the image of the Benetton Rugby franchise, Italian rugby and the game in general, as well as the exemplary behavior always maintained by the athlete on and off the field throughout his career “.
“Racism has never played and never will play any role in my life, just as it should play no role in the life of any of us (…) I come from a multicultural country like Argentina, where cultures have intermingled for more than a century,” Nemer said, quoted in the statement.
