Cherif Traore has revealed he has been a target of racist jokes during a Christmas dinner with his teammates at rugby club Benetton Treviso.
Traore, who was born in Guinea and now represents the Italy rugby union national team, claims he was given a rotten banana in a waste disposal bag during an exchange of gifts at the dinner.
Traore said he did not only find it offensive but was shocked to see most of his teammates present at the dinner laughing at him.
“Apart from finding it an offensive gesture, what hurt me the most was to see that most of my team-mates who were present were laughing,” Traore was quoted in BBC Sport.
“As if it was all normal.”
In a social media post that has been deleted, Traore said he does not react to racist jokes so as not to make enemies, but could not keep quiet on this incident.
“I decided not to keep quiet this time to ensure that episodes like this do not happen again,” he said.
Traore’s club Benetton have condemned any expression of racism and form of discrimination, while further stating the alleged racist incident had nothing to do with sport. The club also said it will always stand for respect of people, their culture, ethnicity, faith and dignity.
“Benetton Rugby would like to reiterate that it has always condemned with the utmost firmness any expression of racism and/or form of discrimination, read a statement on the club website.
“They are not part of our culture and do not represent our identity and our values. We have always proved it with deeds, not just with words, and we will continue to strongly support it.
“Similar behaviors have nothing to do with sport and in the face of such episodes Benetton Rugby will always be on the side of respecting people, their culture, their ethnicity, their faith and their dignity.”
Traore was born in the town of Kindia in Guinea in 1994 and migrated to Italy with his family when he was seven years old.
As a professional, Traore has played for Cavalieri Prato and Viadana before joining Benetton where he has been since 2015. Traore has been capped by the Italy national rugby union team, making his debut against Japan on June 16, 2018.
