Zlatan Ibrahimovic ‘faces TEN-GAME ban if found guilty of racially abusing Romelu Lukaku’ after ‘voodoo’ taunt
AC MILAN star Zlatan Ibrahimovic could face a TEN-GAME ban if found guilty of using racist language towards Romelu Lukaku.
The pair got into a heated exchange during Tuesday’s Milan derby in the Coppa Italia.
Having been separated by team-mates after going head to head, it is claimed that Ibrahimovic, 39, said: “Go do your voodoo s***, you little donkey. Call your mother.”
To which Lukaku, 27, is believed to have replied: “He wants to talk about mothers? Son of a b****.
“F* you and your wife, you little b**.”
Both players were handed one-game Coppa suspensions after the match, for reasons not to do with the bust up.
Ibrahimovic collected two yellow cards after putting his side in front, while Lukaku, who equalised from the penalty spot, picked up a yellow card that triggered suspension.
According to La Stampa, however, if Zlatan’s insult is deemed to be racist, he could face a ban of up to ten games.
The Swede and his club are likely to insist that the comment was a reference to a claim made by Everton owner Farhad Moshiri, rather than a racial stereotype.
After Lukaku had left Goodison Park to join Manchester United, Moshiri 65, claimed that a previous contract negotiation had collapsed because of a voodoo priest’s influence.
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He said in January 2018: “During the meeting [Lukaku] said he had to call his mother, who was on a pilgrimage in Africa and had seen a voodoo or something who said he had to go to Chelsea.”
Ibrahimovic has also taken to social media to deny allegations.
He wrote: “In ZLATAN’s world there is no place for RACISM.
“We are all the same race – we are all equal !! We are all PLAYERS some better then others [sic].”
During the pair’s stint as team-mates at Old Trafford, Ibrahimovic reportedly mocked the Belgian’s control, offering the ex-Chelsea man a £50 bet for every good first touch he made, such was his ‘poor’ technique.
Inter went on to have the last laugh against their ten-man rivals, with Christian Eriksen curling home a sensational free-kick deep into stoppage time to send Antonio Conte’s side to the semi-finals.