Marco Materazzi has hit back at former Juventus star, Lilian Thuram after he said white players should do more for their teammates who suffer racial abuse, by claiming that the Frenchman never did the same when his mum was insulted by fans.
There have been renewed cases of racism in Italy this season with the likes of Dusan Vlahovic, Franck Kessié and Tiémoué Bakayoko, all being abused by the fans of different clubs.
This has increased the calls for more to be done by both current and former players, as well as officials of the game.
Thuram was speaking at the Festival dello Sport, an event organized by La Gazzetta dello Sport.
He claimed everyone should think like a human being irrespective of their colour or origin and he also urged white players to do more to stop the racists.
“Don’t think like a black man don’t think like a white man, don’t think like a French or a Senegalese. Think like a human being,” he said as quoted by Football Italia.
“If we want to be more intelligent, start saying things as they are. There is racism, sexism and homophobia in Italy, it doesn’t mean I don’t love Italy, it means I want to change things.”
“White players have an important role in this, they should make their voice heard,” Thuram said in an interview earlier.
“A non-white person must go beyond himself to get to the top. Football is politic, economy and capitalism.”
However, former Italy defender, Materazzi says he doesn’t totally agree with Thuram and referenced when fans were abusing his mum while he was playing and Thuram didn’t ask to leave the pitch in support.
The former defender said: “I agree with Thuram, I am against racism, but I never saw Thuram leave the pitch when they were signing ‘Materazzi son of a b****’
“It’s a matter of education, for the white, the black and the son of a b****.’
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