Traoré accuses his Benetton teammates of racist gift

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Italy international Cherif Traore has accused his Benetton Treviso team-mates of racism after they gave him a ‘rotten banana’ during an anonymous gift exchange with Secret Santa.

Traore wrote on Instagram that he received the unwanted gift, inside a garbage bag, at a Christmas dinner for Benetton Treviso players.

“Apart from finding it an offensive gesture, what hurt me the most was seeing most of my teammates who were there laughing. As if everything was normal,” he said.

“I haven’t slept all night,” added the 28-year-old.

Traoré was born in Guinea but has lived in Italy since he was seven years old. He plays as an accessory for the northern club Treviso and for the Italian national team.

He said he doesn’t normally react to “racist jokes”, so as not to “make enemies” with those around him, but said he couldn’t let the latest insult pass.

“I decided not to be silent this time to make sure that episodes like this never happen again,” he said, adding that such behavior would be “seriously condemned outside the ‘Italy”.

In a statement, Benetton Rugby said it had “always condemned in the strongest terms any expression of racism and/or form of discrimination”.

The incident involving Traore “has nothing to do with sport”, and the club will always stand for “respect for people, their culture, their ethnicity, their faith and their dignity”, the club said.

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