Corriere Dello Sport controversial 'BLACK FRIDAY' headline

The Italian sports publication Corriere Dello Sport published a headline which used the term 'BLACK 
FRIDAY'. 

The problem arose when pictures of ex-Manchester United player, Romelu Lukaku and current Roma 
player (loaned by Manchester United) were with it on Thursday's front page. 

Current Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer called it ridiculous keeping in mind the stature of 
the publication. 
In response, Roma and Inter Milan prohibited the newspaper from speaking to their players and attending training sessions for the remainder of 2019. 

Romelu Lukaku's agent Federico Pastorello remarked that this was an intended way to debase both the 
above-mentioned players. 
Racist chants and controversies regarding racism have taken place almost on a daily basis in Italian 
football.

Apart from Lukaku, Brescia's Mario Balotelli also endured many racist taunts during fixtures in 
September and November. 

Taking firm action against this, each Serie A club recently signed an open letter expressing the issues of 
racism within the game. They also impeached the football authorities for not doing enough to penalize racial discrimination during matches. 

In their defence, the sporting publication termed the backlash over the headline as lynching. The Corriere Dello Sport editor Ivan Zazzaroni complained of lynching and openly said that they had the support of some clubs. 

The players said to be targeted took to social media with Lukaku calling it the 'dumbest' headline he had 
ever seen, while Smalling called it ' highly insensitive'. 

In response to this, the publication put Friday's headline as "Racist to whom? lynching of a paper that 
has been defending freedom and equality for a century".

Along with the headline, it included a collage of headlines used in the past condemning and an 
explanation by Zazzaroni which said 'Black Friday' was meant to be a celebration of diversity. 

Racist chants were witnessed during the international break too specifically during the matches 
involving the English team where players like Raheem Sterling were targeted.

Featured image credits- dailymail.co.uk