Dan Cancian is currently a reporter for Newsweek based in London he was a news and business reporter at International Business Times UK Dan has also written for The Guardian and The Observer.  either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content An Italian soccer pundit has been fired for making racist comments about Inter Milan striker Romelu Lukaku "Lukaku is one of the best signings that Inter could have made," Passirani said while guests were analyzing the impact the former Manchester United forward has had since moving to Serie A "I don't see another player like him on any other team in Italy I like him a lot because he has that strength: he is the twin of [Dúvan] Zapata at Atalanta." He then added: "They have something extra that the rest don't have and then they score the goals and drag your team forward if you try to challenge him you wind up on the floor "The only way to come up against him is maybe give him 10 bananas to eat..." The comment caused a stir and while Passirani apologized show director Fabio Ravezzani immediately said the pundit would never feature on the program again Passirani is 80 years old and to compliment Lukaku he used a metaphor that turned out to be racist," he said "I think it was a terrible lack of momentary lucidity The incident is the second time in the space of a couple of weeks that Lukaku finds himself on the receiving end of racist comments Two weeks ago, the Belgian was subjected to monkey chants by Cagliari fans during Inter Milan's 2-1 win away in Sardinia who scored the crucial penalty in the game and he later warned that soccer was failing to tackle the issue of racism In a lengthy post on Instagram the former Premier League star wrote that the sport "was going backwards" on racism after Manchester United Paul Pogba and Marcus Rashford and Chelsea striker Tammy Abraham suffered similar incidents on social media "Football is a game to be enjoyed and we shouldn't accept any form of discrimination that will put our game in shame," Lukaku wrote "Ladies and gentlemen it's 2019 - instead of going forwards we're going backwards "I hope the football federations all over the world react strongly on all cases of discrimination." Last season, Cagliari fans racially abused Moise Kean when Juventus visited Sardinia Juventus midfielder Blaise Matuidi suffered a similar fate with Serie A issuing no formal punishment in either case was rejected by a faction of hardcore Inter fans "You have to understand that Italy is not like many other north European countries where racism is a REAL problem," said the statement published on Facebook by an organized group which occupies the second tier of the North End at San Siro "In Italy we use some 'ways' only to 'help our teams' and to try to make our opponents nervous Lukaku has been an instant hit since moving to Milan scoring two goals in three games and helping Inter to climb to the top of Serie A Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground Newsletters in your inbox See all The opening four Italian rounds, over July 4-5 and August 1-2, will fall ahead of the new 2020 EnduroGP season opener in France on September 18-20 giving the major teams and riders chance to get back in the groove The domestic “Assoluti” Enduro championship in Italy attracts EnduroGP elite riders and teams including the Factory Beta Racing with riders Brad Freeman and Steve Holcombe the IMF Enduro Committee has naturally had to take into consideration ongoing restrictions in social distancing and rules governing mass gatherings More news on that will be released in the near future More information: ItalianoEnduro.com  Create a personal Enduro21 account to access our new forum receive exclusive competitions and money saving offers Enduro21 is all about motorcycle enduro and off-road riding. Read more Donations to Enduro21 can make a huge difference to what we do Learn more We're on the lookout for writers, photographers, videographers and enduro enthusiasts, from all around the world. Read more This website uses cookies that are necessary to its functioning and required to achieve the purposes illustrated in the privacy policy By accepting this OR scrolling this page OR continuing to browse The show was debating Lukaku’s impact for Inter so far since joining Manchester United in the summer and Passirani said: “Lukaku is one of the best signings that Inter could have made. I don’t see another player like him on any other team in Italy. He is one of the strongest, I like him a lot because he has that strength: he is the twin of [Dúvan] Zapata at Atalanta.” Read moreHe then added: “They have something extra that the rest don’t have said that Passirani had apologised but that that was not enough “Mr Passirani is 80 years old and to compliment Lukaku he used a metaphor that turned out to be racist,” he said “I think it was a terrible lack of momentary lucidity On the pitch Lukaku has been a huge success already scoring two goals in three games as Inter sit top of Serie A But it has been a troubled time off the pitch after he was subjected to monkey chants by Cagliari fans Inter fans then wrote an open letter supporting the Cagliari fans “You have to understand that Italy is not like many other north European countries where racism is a REAL problem,” said the statement published on Facebook by a group who occupy the second tier of the Curva Nord at Inter’s San Siro home “In Italy we use some ‘ways’ only to ‘help our teams’ and to try to make our opponents nervous Lukaku posted a message on Instagram after the incident in Cagliari saying: “Many players in the last month have suffered from racial abuse .. Football is a game to be enjoyed by everyone and we shouldn’t accept any form of discrimination that will put our game in shame I hope the football federations all over the world react strongly on all cases of discrimination!” a small town nearby Brescia and in the Franciacorta wine area the first act of the Assoluti d'Italia di Enduro took place 77 organised a race similar to the 2018 edition with five special tests per lap divided into two Cross Tests The two riders of the Beta Factory Enduro Team Steve Holcombe and Brad Freeman monopolised the Passirano race recording excellent overall times in the 18 special tests did not start strong and in the first special test set some good times but no surprises the British powered up by recording eight best overall times overcoming the third by more than a minute and thus winning the first round of the 2021 Assoluti d'Italia di Enduro Excellent performance also for Beta's Brad Freeman who ran a good race winning five special tests without making serious mistakes The British rider ranked second in the overall and in the Foreigners Class Congratulations also to Gianluca Martini for the second place in the 300 Class and to Gabriele Pasinetti for the third place in the Youth Class on the Beta RR 125 The next appointment is scheduled for Saturday 27 and Sunday 28 March in Custonaci for the second and third acts of the Italian enduro championship Steve Holcombe: We started the new season in the best way was great and very professional and I have a great feeling with the bike Now maximum concentration for the next race that will be in a few weeks." Brad Freeman: The first race of the season went well the feeling with the bike is excellent and I achieved excellent times during the day of the race Also this year will be a great challenge with my team-mate Steve Holcombe for the final title." Jamie McCanney has announced that he has left the Yamaha fold after five years of competition together The ACU has confirmed that the opening round of the ACU British Enduro Championship has a revised date and will now take place on June 5-6 Following significant success in the EnduroGP in recent years Maxxis Tyres’ MaxxEnduro tyre has been chosen as the OE fitment for the 2022 range of Beta RR Enduro and RR Racing Enduro motorcycles which will be available to buy from June 2021 © 2024 WW Magazines All rights reserved. Contact Us | Privacy Policy | Terms and Conditions Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker Factory tour at Lomo together with the die-casting temperature control specialists from IECI Together with IECI boss Mauro Inverardi and Federico Di Giovanni we were on the way to their customer Lomo (formerly Lomopress S.r.l.) in Monticelli near Brescia Lomo COO Felice Lo Monaco is already waiting for us because he is planning major investments and the new production hall is gradually filling up with brand new equipment The existing 17 die-casting cells are to be joined by 11 new ones Three of them have already been installed and the trial run of the latest Maicopresse 3000 has started successfully Commissioning of the IECI temperature control system The complete temperature control system was supplied by IECI and runs on gas renowned company that celebrates its 50th anniversary this year and specializes in the manufacture of temperature control units for the plastics and metal industries It holds numerous international patents and supplies customers all over the world with high-quality solutions for temperature control in dies Among the references of IECI customers are also manufacturers who work with so-called giga or mega presses for the production of the largest die-cast parts that we know of The control units for the giant presses can't be compared to the normal ones number and diameter and have to be controlled at all points Lomo is well known as a die-casting foundry and serves 70% of its customers in the automotive industry with large OEMs electronics and the renewable energy sector with very diverse components Lomo is broadly positioned and already works in an environmentally friendly way and attaches great importance to sustainability conscious use of resources such as energy and water most recently with the gas-powered temperature control We wish Lomo with Felice Lo Monaco and his team every success in the further expansion of the new hall and are looking forward to the next steps I would like to receive the bi-weekly Foundry-Planet newsletter with all latest news Plus the special newsletters – all can be cancelled anytime and at no cost