Sky Sports Italia Pundit Accused Of Racism After Calling Romelu Lukaku 'The Black Guy At Inter'

When a graphic of the Inter striker was displayed on the screen, Stefano De Grandis referred to Lukaku as "that tanned gentleman next to you" and then proceeded to brand him as "the black guy at Inter" just seconds later.

His choice of words, in describing him using his skin colour as opposed to many other superlatives he could have gone for.

The backlash has quite rightly been massive, with many calling for De Grandis to be sacked for his inappropriate comments.

At the time of writing, there has been no apology issued from De Grandis or Sky Sports Italia.

TopCalcio24 suspended him immediately and he was then subsequently relieved of his duties.

Passirano's defence of himself saw him claim he is "not a racist" because he has black relatives.

"I would like not to pass for a racist," he told Telelombardia.

"My partner who has lived with me for 17 years is black, I have two little black granddaughters, my son's daughters. I am not a racist and I believe I am an educated person in every respect.

"In my career I met so many black players and I never had any problems."