Still amazes me, the amount of

He'll get less of a ban than Kiko still.

What a strange “joke” but I’m not surprised in Italy.

We went to The Amalfi Coast area a couple of years back. Not one foreign worker in any bar, hotel or restaurant - all locals. It was so obvious.

Of course they have immigrants but we never saw any in the tourist areas. Unlike the UK where every hotel is basically run by them.

Maybe our young just aren’t cut out for the hospitality industry.

But Italy and a few other countries in Europe do appear to be inherently racist.

We were in Turkey with our son and his then future wife a few years back. Her dad is an Iraqi Christian and her mum was half English, half Italian. She’s gorgeous but because she inherited her dads looks one of our Turkish neighbours thought she was Iraqi and literally feigned spitting on the ground when she saw her.

She also got stared at and asked a few times where she was from.

Needless to say it was uncomfortable for her and we no longer speak with those neighbours - thank god they moved!

I note from Ronnie's Wiki page that he has been subjected to racist taunts, Celllino's views appear to be reflective of a problem in the country regarding attitudes towards black people. I know the UK is far from perfect in this matter but I hope the experience of BME people is a lot more positive in this country.

comment by Elsbels - One needs to be loved to win, not wi... (U21658)
posted 3 hours, 23 minutes ago
I note from Ronnie's Wiki page that he has been subjected to racist taunts, Celllino's views appear to be reflective of a problem in the country regarding attitudes towards black people. I know the UK is far from perfect in this matter but I hope the experience of BME people is a lot more positive in this country.
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We are nowhere near perfect but I agree we are much better than many European countries - especially Eastern Europe.

I know it's an old saying, but I do think it's true.

Just treat people how you'd like to be treated. If everyone did that, i'm sure a lot of the racist and discriminatory stuff would soon die out.

I've lived and worked in Italy, Portugal and Spain down the years. Racism far more overt, especially in footie grounds, from what I witnessed. Seems it's still prevalent now …. such a shame.

comment by VOF - are we there yet? (U17124)
posted 6 hours, 17 minutes ago
I know it's an old saying, but I do think it's true.

Just treat people how you'd like to be treated. If everyone did that, i'm sure a lot of the racist and discriminatory stuff would soon die out.

I've lived and worked in Italy, Portugal and Spain down the years. Racism far more overt, especially in footie grounds, from what I witnessed. Seems it's still prevalent now …. such a shame.
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I remember you talking about your experiences there before, didn't you suffer a lot of ageist abuse whilst there?

Not ageist abuse no. But I went a couple of times to watch Sporting Lisbon when in Portugal, the monkey chants (howls) were really loud, from all around the ground. One match they aimed it at Emerson then Porto later Boro. They had black players in there own side ffs?!?!? I found it embarrassing so stopped going.

Not ageist....my mistake, was it heightist then?

comment by Jonty (U4614)
posted 23 hours, 36 minutes ago
Not ageist....my mistake, was it heightist then?
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To be honest Jonty most of the locals at the footie grounds were fine with me per se. They liked the fact they had someone English and a Leeds fan following there club.

I had a season ticket for 3 years for Roda in Holland, went to see Bari quite a bit while in Italy and Sporting in Portugal. Odd trips over to the Spanish border to see Sevilla while living in Lisbon. It was mainly Italy/Portugal where I noticed and remember racism the most on reflection, Lisbon especially. No idea if it's improved these days, not been back for a number of years.

You only have to look at Italian footballers(not all but a lot!)to see what outsiders mean to Italians!..

Paolo Di Canio is a perfect example!..

Its an Italian thing that most see as normal!..

I remember a School mate and his Brother, they're Italian and didn't like the stick they got at times because off their Nationality,(back then in School anything outside off White was had and some of the abuse was unbelievable!)but you should have heard them when a different Nationality came by them!..