Friday 29 November 2019 21:08, UK
Slavia Prague have disputed Romelu Lukaku’s claims of racist abuse in their midweek Champions League clash with Inter Milan and have demanded an apology from the striker.
Lukaku was on target in Inter's 3-1 win but afterwards said "the whole stadium" had used racist chants against him and team-mates, urging UEFA to take action.
But Slavia said on Friday they have analysed available footage and could not corroborate Lukaku's version of events, adding the right thing for him to do is to apologise
"We must reject that there has been racist chanting of the whole stadium," a club statement read.
"We analysed available footages, and none confirmed Mr Lukaku's statement.
"The club has already apologised for individuals' behaviour and it would be appropriate for Mr Lukaku to apologise for his words too."
Lukaku was also targeted in September by monkey chants during a Serie A match at Cagliari, while Brescia striker Mario Balotelli was subjected to racist abuse during a game at Verona earlier this month.
All 20 Serie A clubs signed an open letter on Friday addressed to "all those who love Italian football" acknowledging there is a serious problem with respect to racism in the Italian game.
"Images of players being racially abused in Italian football have been viewed and discussed all around the world this season and that shames us all," said the clubs in an open letter.
"No individual should ever be subjected to racist abuse inside or outside of football and we can no longer stay silent on this issue or wait for it to magically disappear.
"We have to publicly recognise that we have a serious problem with racism. It's a problem that we have not done enough to combat over the years."
In the letter, the clubs said that Serie A would deliver "a comprehensive and robust Serie A anti-racism policy, stricter new laws and regulations and a plan for educating those within the game about the scourge of racism".
Italian football's disciplinary code has been widely criticised as it only allows sanctions if the racist abuse is considered widely perceptible.
Serie A's chief executive Luigi De Siervo added that "any action, any effort would be nothing without the involvement, support, accountability of each and every stakeholder."
