The United Rugby Championship (URC) announced on Thursday that it had asked Treviso to provide a report on the “abhorrent” racism suffered by Treviso’s Cherif Traore after the Italy mainstay received a rotten banana as a Christmas present this week.
The 28-year-old, born in Guinea, received the gift on Tuesday during a Secret Santa swap with his club, a game in which people buy gifts that are then distributed anonymously among a group of people.
Treviso, backed by clothing company Benetton, will take on fellow Italians Zebre Parma this weekend in the URC.
“The United Rugby Championship have been in communication with Benetton Rugby regarding the incident first identified in a social media post by Cherif Traore, the Italian international striker,” said the league, which includes teams from Ireland, Scotland, South Africa and Wales. like Italy.
“Benetton Rugby have been asked to provide a full report on what has occurred and what significant action will be taken as a result.
“Racism and discrimination of any kind are abhorrent, completely unacceptable in society and totally against the values of the sport of rugby and the United Rugby Championship,” he added.
Earlier on Tuesday, England prop Ellis Genge, who captained his country in the summer of 2021, criticized the incident with the Six Nations Tournament running a ‘Rugby Against Racism’ campaign over the last few two years.
“No, well done, absolutely correct, ‘gifting’ a ‘teammate’ a rotten banana for Secret Santa is no big deal and a simple apology will suffice,” he tweeted.
“If Benetton doesn’t take more action on this, then everything we’ve done for ‘rugby against racism’ has been a checkbox for the majority.”
No, well done, absolutely correct, “gifting” a “teammate” a rotten banana for Secret Santa is no big deal and a simple apology will suffice.
If Benetton doesn’t do more about it, then everything we’ve done for “rugby against racism” has been a checkbox for the majority. https://t.co/FlMkzzF3U6
— Gengey (@EllisGenge) December 22, 2022
In an opening statement, Treviso said that he condemned all forms of racism and discrimination.
He later said that the entire team had been called to a meeting with top executives, who reiterated their condemnation of racism, with all the players apologizing to Traore.
