When The Campaign Against Racism In Serie A Was Tarnished By The Newspapers

Chris Smalling and Romelu Lukaku (Twitter @mufcnews)

JAKARTA - Rome has criticized an Italian newspaper. The preview of the match between the Giallorossi and Inter Milan was entitled the controversy, "Black Friday" which also featured a photo of Romelu Lukaku and Chris Smalling.

Corriere dello Sport dedicated their front page to this week's Serie A grand fixture, but their headlines have drawn criticism.

"Black Friday" is a term used to describe the first Friday after Thanksgiving in the United States when retail sales mark the start of the Christmas shopping period. In this case, however, the term refers to the reunion of former Manchester United team-mates Smalling and Lukaku, both of whom are black.

Roma - the club that borrowed Smalling - caught the attention of their followers on Twitter, posted the offensive front-page screenshot and found Corriere's editorial grossly inappropriate.

No one: Absolutely nobody: Not a single soul: Corriere dello Sport headline writer: pic.twitter.com/u2xpMLV5IH

- AS Roma English (@ASRomaEN) December 5, 2019

This season, Lukaku and Smalling have become the main stars for their respective teams, but the headlines are the latest in a series of incidents that have ruined Italian football this season.

Belgium international Lukaku, who is of Congolese descent, was subjected to racist abuse by Cagliari fans in September.

Milan midfielder Franck Kessie was subjected to similar abuse at Hellas Verona later that month, before Smalling called for severe punishment for racist acts in October.

Last month, Mario Balotelli of Brescia reacted to the monkey's taunts on their trip to Verona by kicking the ball into the stands.

Responding to that racist act. Last week, all Italian Serie A clubs signed a letter of agreement to tackle growing racism. It's nothing, this shameful act has caused worldwide condemnation.

Representatives of the Serie A clubs have attached their names to the open letter. They vowed to go to greater lengths together to eradicate the problem of racism.

When the campaign to tackle the problem of racism was echoed by players and clubs, the media only added to the confusion. Ironic.