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'Deeply sorry' Italian prop cops big ban for Traore banana 'gift'
Italy prop Ivan Nemer has copped a hefty ban following an investigation into his racist secret Santa gift to Benetton and Azzurri teammate Cherif Traore. It was in the week before Christmas that Traore took to social media to explain his disgust at receiving a rotten banana, and his public calling out of the racist gift eventually resulted in the Treviso-based URC franchise suspending an unnamed player on December 22.
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A Federal Court investigation was launched and 35 days later it has now been decided to ban Nemer, the 11-cap front-rower, from rugby until June 30. The forward appeared off the Italy bench in all three of their recent Autumn Nations Series matches but was omitted from Kieran Crowley’s 34-strong squad for the upcoming Guinness Six Nations.
An Italian Rugby Federation statement read: “Ivan Nemer, the Benetton prop, has been disqualified until June 30. The sanction was imposed by the Federal Court following the request for indictment by the federal prosecutor and in compliance with the FIR justice regulations and World Rugby rule 18.
“This was on the basis of the investigations carried out in relation to what occurred during a lunch organised by Benetton Rugby players on December 20 and publicly announced via social media by Ivan Nemer’s teammate, Cherif Traore, and the subsequent request for a plea deal.
“In defining the sanction, the Federal Court, in accepting the request for a plea bargain, took into consideration Nemer’s desire to shed full clarity on what happened, the regret represented towards his teammate, the recognition of the shame caused by his behaviour to the image of the Benetton Rugby franchise, of Italian rugby and of the game in general, as well as the exemplary behavior always maintained by the player on and off the field during his career.
STATEMENT: Benetton suspend a player after the Cherif Traore racism incident became a legal matter in Italy. #URC https://t.co/Omr8iM5Eau
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) December 22, 2022
“The Italian Rugby Federation, in taking note of the decision taken by the Federal Court, has defined in agreement with Benetton Rugby that the player actively participates as a specialist in the scrum ordered by the FIR migrants project and that, at the same time, he takes part in a training course and raising awareness on integration issues in an independent structure, which will be specially identified for him.
“The player’s future involvement in the Italy team activity is subject to permanent participation and the subsequent successful completion of the training and awareness-raising process, which must be certified by the organising body.”
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A statement from Nemer read: “Racism has not and will never have any role in my life, as it shouldn’t have in the life of any of us. I’m deeply sorry for what happened, for the stupidity of my gesture, for the displeasure caused to a friend, for having caused damage to my team, my teammates, the country I represent and the game I love.
“I come from a multicultural country like Argentina, where cultures have been mixing for over a century, and I have always shared the locker room and the field with teammates and friends from all over the world. What happened does not represent me but at the same time, it must make me and make us reflect on how much more needs to be done to change our culture, overcome the most blatant stereotypes, bring us closer to each other even more than is already happening.
“I accept the disqualification and the reintegration process with serenity but above all, I trust in the months and years to come that I will be able to contribute with my testimony to making more and more young rugby players aware of issues that must be addressed and understood to improve not only our sports but the world we live in.”
Benetton were widely criticised in the immediate wake of the racism incident becoming public in December when Test-level prop Traore posted to his Instagram the revelation that he had been gifted a banana during his club’s secret Santa presentation.
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Apologies were made to Traore after the club summoned the Benetton squad to a meeting and while the player attempted to draw a line under the controversy when later posting a follow-up message on Instagram, the reaction of the club was hugely criticised by high-profile players such England vice-captain Ellis Genge who called them out over their lenient reaction.
URC, the five-nation, 16-team league that Benetton play in, then issued a statement explaining that they wanted a full report from the club on what had happened, but the racism incident took on greater urgency when the Italian federation confirmed that a legal investigation had been launched and that Benetton had suspended a then unnamed player who turned out to be Nemer.
Comments on RugbyPass
After their 5/0 start, I had the Crusaders to finish Top 4 only…they lost the plot in Perth but will reload and back themselves vs 4th placed Rebels…
3 Go to commentsBoth nations missed a great opportunity to book a game that would have had a lot of interest from around the world. I understand these games can’t be organised in 5 minutes but they should have found a way to make it happen. I don’t think Wales are ducking anyone but it’s a bad look haha.
3 Go to commentsIt will be fascinating to see the effect that Jo Yapp has. If they can compete with Canada and give BFs a run for their money that will be progress
1 Go to commentsFollowing his dream and putting in the work. Go well young fella!
3 Go to commentsPerhaps filling Twickenham is one of Mitchell’s KPIs. I doubt whether both September matches will be at Twickenham on consecutive weekends. I would take the BF one to a large provincial stadium so as not to give them the advantage and experience of playing at Twickenham before a large crowd prior to the RWC.
2 Go to commentsvery unfortunate for Kitshoff, but big opportunity potentially for Nché to prove he is genuinely the best loosehead in the world, rather than just a specialist finisher. Presuming that if Kitshoff is out, it will also give Steenekamp a chance to come into the 23? Or are others likely to be ahead of him?
1 Go to commentsA long held question in popular culture asks if art imitates life or does the latter influence the former? Over this 6 nations I can ask the same question of the media influencing the thoughts of its audience or vice versa. Nobody wants to see cricket scores in rugby, as a spectacle it is not sustainable. With so many articles about England’s procession and lack of competition it feeds the epicaricacy of many looking for an opportunity to pounce. England are not the first team to dominate nor does it happen only in rugby, think Federer, Nadal, Red Bull or Mercedes, Manchester Utd, Australia in tests and World Cups. Instead of celebrating the achievements why find reasons to falsify it pointing towards larger playing pool, professional for a longer period or mitigate with the lack of growth in other nations. Can we not enjoy it while it is here and know that it won’t last for ever, others coveting what England have will soon take the crown, ask the aforementioned?
6 Go to commentsShame he won’t turn out for the Netherlands now they’re improving. U20s are Euro champs and in the U20 Trophy this year. The senior sides gets better every year too.
3 Go to commentsWill rugbypass tv be showing these games?
1 Go to commentsWell where do you start, the fact that England have a professional domestic league and Ireland’s is fully amatuer, that they have fully seperated professional squads at Fifteens and Sevens (7’s thinly disguised as GB), and Ireland have fully pro Sevens squad who loan some players back to the Semi-Professional Fifteens squad (moved from amateur for only a year or so) for a few games at 6N & RWC’s. The Women’s games is a shambles, and is at risk of killing itself by pushing for professionalism when the market isn’t really there to support it outside one or two countnries..
6 Go to commentsWayne Smith's input didn't have as much impact on the last final as Davison's red card for Thompson. England were 14 points up and flying when that happened.
6 Go to commentsBilly's been playing consistently well for 2 - 3 seasons now and deserves a look in at the top level. Ioane and ALB are still first choice but there needs to be injury cover and succession. His partnership with Jordie gives him first dibs you'd think. Go the Hurricanes.
3 Go to commentsIt’s not up to Wales to support Georgian Rugby. That’s up to International Rugby and Georgia. I sympathise with Georgia’s decent attempt to create this fixture. But for Wales the proposed match up is just a potential stick to beat them with and a potential big psychological blow that young Welsh team doesn’t need. (I’m Irish BTW.)
3 Go to commentsCale certainly looks great in space, but as you say, he has struggled in contact. At 23 years old, turning 24 this year, he should be close to full physical maturity and yet there exists a considerable gap in the power and physicality required for international rugby. Weight doesn’t automatically equate to power and physicality either. Can he go from a player who’s being physically dominated in Super rugby to physically dominating in international rugby in 1 or 2 years? That’s a big ask but he may end up being a late bloomer.
28 Go to commentsIf rugby wants to remain interesting in the AI era then it will need to work on changing the rules. AI will reduce the tactical advantage of smart game plans, will neutralize primary attacking weapons, and will move rugby from a being a game of inches to a game of millimetres. It will be about sheer athleticism and technique,about avoiding mistakes, and about referees. Many fans will find that boring. The answer is to add creative degrees of freedom to the game. The 50-22 is an example. But we can have fun inventing others, like the right to add more players for X minutes per game, or the equivalent of the 2-point conversion in American football, the ability to call a 12-player scrum, etc. Not saying these are great ideas, but making the point that the more of these alternatives you allow, the less AI will be able to lock down high-probability strategies. This is not because AI does not have the compute power, but because it has more choices and has less data, or less-specific data. That will take time and debate, but big, positive and immediate impact could be in the area of ref/TMO assistance. The technology is easily good enough today to detect forward passes, not-straight lineouts, offside at breakdown/scrum/lineout, obstruction, early/late tackles, and a lot of other things. WR should be ultra aggressive in doing this, as it will really help in an area in which the game is really struggling. In the long run there needs to be substantial creativity applied to the rules. Without that AI (along with all of the pro innovations) will turn rugby into a bash fest.
24 Go to commentsSouth Africa rarely play Ireland and France on these tours. Mostly, England, Scotland and Wales. I wonder why
2 Go to commentsIt was a let’s-see-what-you're-made-of type of a game. The Bulls do look good when the opposition allows them to, but Munster shut them down, and they could not find a way through. Jake should be very worried about their chances in the competition.
2 Go to commentsHats off to Fabian for a very impressive journey to date. Is it as ‘uniquely unlikely’ as Rugby Pass suggests, given Anton Segner’s journey at the Blues?
3 Go to commentsSad that this was not confirmed. When administrators talk about expanding the game they evidently don’t include pathways to the top tier of rugby for teams outside of the old boys club. Rugby deserves better, and certainly Georgia does.
3 Go to commentsLions might take him on if they move on Van Rooyen but I doubt he will want to go back, might consider it a step backwards for himself. Sharks would take him on but if Plumtree goes on to win the challenge cup they will keep him on. Also sharks showing some promising signs recently. Stormers and Bulls are stable and Springboks are already filled up. Quality coach though, interesting to see where he ends up
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