Italy prop Cherif Traore says he has "appreciated and accepted" the apologies he's received after being at the centre of a racism storm at Benetton.
On Wednesday, the 28-year-old took to Instagram to reveal he'd received a rotten banana as part of his club's Secret Santa. In an emotional post, he called out teammates for their reaction, writing: “Apart from calling the gesture offensive, what hurt me most was seeing most of my mates present laughing. As if everything is normal.
"I’m used to it. Or rather, I’ve had to get used to it, putting on a brave face whenever I hear racist jokes in order to try not to hate the people close to me. Yesterday was different though."
Benetton Rugby responded in a statement saying they had “always condemned with the utmost firmness any expression of racism and/or form of discrimination." The club added it will always stand for “respecting people, their culture, their ethnicity, their faith and their dignity."
The whole playing squad was summoned for a meeting in which players gave their apologies to Traore, who seemingly accepted them as a genuine. Via a club statement, he described the incident as an act of “idiocy” by one person, adding: “I appreciated and accepted his apologies and those of the entire squad.”
That is unlikely to be the end if the furore however, with United Rugby Championship chiefs responding with a statement of their own on Thursday afternoon. They confirmed the Italian outfit had been contacted over the incident.
"Benetton Rugby has been asked to provide a full report on what has occurred and what meaningful action will be taken as a result," they said. "Racism and discrimination of any kind are abhorrent, completely unacceptable in society and are utterly counter to the values of the sport of rugby."
And the authority implied they would now await a response before acting further: "There will be no further comment until we have additional information on the incident."
Traore joined Benetton in 2015, and is nearing 100 appearances for the club. He's also won 15 caps for Italy since his debut against Japan in 2018.
