Sky Sports Italia expert is in hot water after making two racist comments about Romelu Lukaku just seconds away live.
When a graphic of the Inter striker was shown on screen, Stefano called De Grandis Lukaku “the gentleman next to you” and then continued to brand him as “the black boy at Inter” a few seconds later.
« Il nero dell’Inter » 😮
Je vous demande pardon? Vous n’avez donc aucun autre superlatif pour qualifier @RomeluLukaku9 ? https://t.co/grqK82L4yq
En 2021, ce n’est plus permis. @SkySports è molto quello ché successo qui. #InterMilan #Lukaku
— Sacha Tavolieri (@sachatavolieri) April 19, 2021
The backlash has been hugely deserved, with many calling for De Grandis to be fired for his inappropriate remarks.
Stefano De Grandis being Stefano De Grandis… “the black guy at Inter” https://t.co/96JceBqK9a
— Juan Arango (@JuanG_Arango) April 19, 2021
Voor de verandering maar weer eens een racist op de Italiaanse televisie. Pundit Stefano De Grandis noemt Romelu Lukaku binnen 10 seconden “die gebruinde meneer naast je” en “de zwarte van Inter”.
— Wesley Victor Mak 🇮🇹 (@WesleyVictorMak) April 19, 2021
Stefano De Grandis being Stefano De Grandis… “the black guy at Inter” https://t.co/96JceBqK9a
— Juan Arango (@JuanG_Arango) April 19, 2021
At the time of writing, no apologies were issued by De Grandis or Sky Sports Italia.
In 2019, another Italian expert, Luciano Passirani, was fired after saying that the only way to stop Lukaku is to “say, here are ten bananas you can eat”.
TopCalcio24 suspended him immediately and was subsequently released from office.
Italian pundit Luciano Passirani after praising Romelu Lukaku: “the only way to push him down to the floor is to throw 10 bananas at him.”
The problem runs so deep in Italian football. pic.twitter.com/6e6v1Nc0J3
— Premier League Panel (@PremLeaguePanel) September 16, 2019
Passirano’s self-defense found that he claimed he was “not racist” because he had black relatives.
“I would like not to pass for a racist,” he told Telelombardia.
“My partner who has lived with me for 17 years is black, I have two black granddaughters, my son’s daughters. I’m not a racist and I think I’m a fully educated person.
“In my career I have met many black players and have never had any problems.