‘You’re alright if you have ten bananas to give them to eat, otherwise…’: Italian TV pundit makes racist remark about Inter Milan’s Romelu Lukaku before being banned from channel
Luciano Passirani, a guest commentator on the show, said of the striker: ‘If they go one-on-one with you you’re dead, you fall to the ground. You’re alright if you have ten bananas to give them to eat, otherwise…’.
The director of the station, Fabio Ravezzani, went on air almost immediately after the comments were made and apologised before clarifying that Passirani would not be allowed on the network ever again.
And now Passirani has added to the storm with his latest comments.
While appearing on the show, he said: ‘I don’t see in the Italian league a player like Lukaku in any team, not in AC Milan, Inter, Rome, Lazio.
‘He’s one of the strongest and I like him a lot because he’s one of the strongest, he’s at least twice as strong as (Duvan) Zapata from Atalanta.
‘These players have something more than the others, these are the guys who make the goals and drag the team.
‘If they go one-on-one with you you’re dead, you fall to the ground. You’re alright if you have ten bananas to give them to eat, otherwise…’
Passirani did apologise on air afterwards but it still led to widespread condemnation from those who watched.
Ravezzani added in a later tweet: ‘Only a part of the transmission was spread widely, cutting off the guest’s subsequent apology that he had a moment of unpredictable confusion while trying to make a joke.
