Marchisio in disability row

By Football Italia staff

Claudio Marchisio calls a pundit 'blind' over Inter-Juventus, then has to apologise to the blind community.

The Bianconeri midfielder was out with injury during the Coppa Italia clash, which was lost by the Nerazzurri on penalties after a 3-3 on aggregate, and commented a refereeing decision on Twitter during the game.

“Zaza booked, they say he kicked,” read his Twitter profile. “The commentator must be blind.”

The comment did not go down well with the disability community, and the Rai journalists syndicate Usigrai published an official statement to condemn it: “It is a matter and an offence that cannot be overlooked as a stylistic accident.

“Marchisio's words offended an entire community, that of blind people, as well as a commentator who was doing his job professionally as always.

“Those words are all the more unpleasant for having been pronounced by a player of the most prestigious club and the Azzurri too. We hope that Juventus, Lega Calcio and the FIGC will take some measures to clarify that the values of sport have nothing to do with this type of language.”

Similar negative comments were made by Rai Sport director Carlo Paris and the community at Rai Sport generally.

Juventus have decided not to fine the Principino as of yet, as the player recognised his mistake and apologised on Facebook.

“I'm surprised that my comment on a football play was defined as 'delegitimising' the work of others,” his profile reads. “We all have the right to express our judgment on a match.

“As a player I'm used to accepting comments and opinions of all sorts, from the fans as well as from the journalists.

“On the other hand my faux pas, even though I was attempting a joke, on blind people, was unfortunate and wrong.

“I apologise for that. The moment's emotion overwhelmed me and this is something that should never happen.”

Watch Serie A live in the UK on Premier Sports for just £9.99 per month including live LaLiga, Eredivisie, Scottish Cup Football and more. Visit: https://www.premiersports.com/subscribenow