Italian Serie B side A.C Chievo Verona have said that their Nigerian player Joel Obi was a victim of a racial insult from an opposition player.
Chievo faced Pisa in a Serie B clash yesterday, a game which ended 2-2. After the full-time, Chievo accused Michele Marconi, a Pisa player of directing racial abuse at Obi while on the pitch.
Michele Marconi allegedly used the phrase “the slave revolt” towards Obi in the first half of the tie.
“Following the racist phrase ‘the slave revolt’ said by the Pisa player Michele Marconi to the midfielder Joel Obi during the first half of the Pisa – Chievo Verona match, the club expresses the utmost solidarity towards its player, the subject of a slanderous and bleak phrase, which has nothing to do with the most elementary and basic values of sport, ethics, and respect,” the club wrote on its official website following the match.
“AC Chievo Verona strongly condemns and stigmatizes the racist behavior suffered by Joel Obi, and regrets that a phrase heard by most on the field was not followed by any disciplinary measures: neither by the referee, nor by the assistant and fourth official, nor the federal prosecutor,” it added.
Joel Obi, 29, has spent most of his career in Italy, playing for Internazionale, Parma, and Torino as well as the Nigeria national team.
The midfielder made his Super Eagles debut in 2011 and has 17 caps to his name.