By Eurohoops Team/ info@eurohoops.net
After Tuesday’s Basketball Champions League Regular Season Gameday 8 contest between Lietkabelis and Dinamo Sassari, Michele Vitali of the visitors commented through social media on racist conduct he noticed from some fans at the Cido Arena. The Lithuanian club and BCL immediately condemned any kind of racist behavior.
“It’s a shame to listen when people mimic the monkey’s verse to the player just for the color of their skin,” Vitali wrote on his Instagram post, “Unacceptable. People like that deserve nothing in their life.”
“We reject any racist behavior” responded Lietkabelis through team director Martynas Purlys, “The team will make certain actions to identify the potential offenders as soon as possible. To prevent such behavior in the future games, we will appoint particular sanctions, including a ban on attending Lietkabelis home matches, if the guilt of potential offenders is going to be properly proved. We appreciate all the fans, who strongly support our team, but we will not tolerate such a disrespectful behavior regarding the opponents.”
The Lithuanian outlet has already contacted Sassari for further details and launched its investigation on the matter. Video recordings will be reviewed in the attempt to identify the potential perpetrators.
On its part, Basketball Champions League via Twitter noted: “There is no place for racism, intolerance or discrimination in basketball. We stand together with all our Basketball Champions League participating clubs and the European basketball community in condemning any and all messages promoting hatred or racism.”