The cameras captured 10 seconds of unrepeatable insults directed at the Roma defender. Yet, according to the Code of Sports Justice, he should not be sanctioned
Michael Folorunsho’s repeated and extremely offensive insults to Hermoso’s mother yesterday during Cagliari-Roma have become a cause célèbre. The Rossoblù player insulted the Spaniard with words such as “your mother is a whore, your mother is a bitch, your mother must die,” all captured for more than 10 long seconds by the cameras and going viral in an instant. The referee was some distance away at the time but cautioned both players. If the report shows that he heard the insults and decided to issue a card, the matter will be closed. Otherwise, it will be necessary to check whether the federal inspectors heard anything. It cannot be ruled out that the sports judge may request further investigation. However, there is still a strong risk that the Cagliari midfielder will not be sanctioned.
The reason? According to the Code of Sports Justice, TV evidence cannot be used in this case. Article 61 (paragraph 3) provides for its use “only in cases of violent or seriously unsportsmanlike conduct or concerning the use of profanity not seen by the referee or VAR, with the consequence that the referee was unable to make a decision in this regard.” There are therefore two reasons blocking the procedure. The first: only profanity is sanctioned on the verbal front. Other forms, even seriously derogatory ones, are not. The second: is it possible that no one saw it on VAR? The regulations stipulate that VAR can also intervene in cases of direct expulsion for “violent conduct, biting or spitting” or “acting in an offensive and/or abusive manner.” The latter case explicitly refers to insults. It is therefore probably necessary to examine the merits of insults considered punishable because they violate Article 28 of the Code of Sports Justice.
ARTICLE 28— It states here that “any conduct that, directly or indirectly, involves offense, denigration, or insult on the grounds of race, color, religion, language, sex, nationality, ethnic origin, personal or social condition, or constitutes ideological propaganda prohibited by law or in any case praising discriminatory behavior, constitutes discriminatory behavior.” If no one from VAR intervened and if, as it seems, the FIGC Prosecutor’s Office does not see grounds for proceeding, it is because—at least for the moment—the words spoken by Folorunsho do not fall within this category. What remains are images of strong verbal violence (so much so that the player himself apologized) that have been filling social media since yesterday and that could go unpunished.
