Italy international Cherif Traore says he has been the victim of “racist jokes” during Benetton Treviso’s anonymous Secret Santa exchange.
Traore says he was given a “rotten banana” in a rubbish bag at a Christmas dinner for the club’s players.
The 28-year-old was born in Guinea and has lived in Italy since he was seven.
“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,” he said.
“As if it was all normal.”
Traore, who is a prop for Italy and Treviso, revealed the incident on social media.
“I haven’t slept all night,” he added.
In his post, that has now been deleted, Traore said he does not normally react to “racist jokes” in order not to “make enemies” with people around him, but that he could not let this insult pass.
“I decided not to keep quiet this time to ensure that episodes like this do not happen again,” he said.
In a statement, Benetton Rugby said they have “always condemned with the utmost firmness any expression of racism and/or form of discrimination”.
The club added that the incident “has nothing to do with sport”, and the club will always stand for “respecting people, their culture, their ethnicity, their faith and their dignity”.
