Guinea-Bissauan Soccer Player Ronaldo Vieira Was the Target of Racist Chants During a Game

Ronaldo Vieira is a Guinea-Bissauan soccer player who joined the Italian soccer team Unione Calcio Sampdoria (U.C. Sampdoria) as a midfielder last year. According to BBC Sport, the 21-year-old was unfortunately the target of racist slurs during a game against Associazione Sportiva Roma (A.S. Roma) at the Sampdoria's Luigi Ferraris Stadium in Genoa yesterday. After the first half of the game, fans of A.S. Roma began chanting "monkey" at the player. While Italian soccer authorities have generally condemned this recent incident and those in the past, the problem persists.

Speaking about the incident, Vieira said that, "I heard it but I don't want to talk about it. This happens too often, it shouldn't be this way." In a social media post, A.S. Roma apologized to the the player and said the following:

"AS Roma apologizes to Ronaldo Vieira for the racist cries he has suffered. The club does not tolerate any form of racism and will support the authorities in the process of identification and, consequently, to banish the individuals responsible for these racist insults."

This incident is the latest among a spate of several others in Italian football this season. Belgian-Congolese player for Inter Milan Romelu Lukaku, went on record saying that, "Football is a game to be enjoyed by everyone, and we shouldn't accept any form of discrimination that will put our game in shame." He added that, "I hope the football federations all over the world react strongly on all cases of discrimination." Ivorian player for AC Milan, Franck Kessie, as well as Brazilian player for ACF Fiorentina, Dalbert, have also been victims of racism during games.