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'This should never happen' Arsenal players say they were subjected to racist taunts
ROME (AP) -- Italian soccer club Lazio lashed out Wednesday against what it said was a "defamatory campaign" to brand the team and its supporters racist. Several players from English team Arsenal alleged they were targets of racist taunts during and after a bad tempered Champions League match played against Lazio in Rome's Olympic stadium on Tuesday night. Arsenal's French striker Thierry Henry, speaking on Italian TV after the 1-1 draw, said one Lazio player repeatedly provoked Arsenal's Patrick Vieira with obscene racial remarks. Henry, who did not the name the Lazio player, said "This should never happen on the field. We players have to play the ball and not say such things." Throughout the match, some Lazio supporters jeered Arsenal's black players: Vieira, Henry, Sylvain Wiltord and Nigeria's Kanu. Lazio described the fans who jeered the black players as "a hundred imbeciles." But Lazio said it was unfair to taint the club's image with "one-sided accounts of spats between players." Episodes of racism are not new to Italian soccer. In February, authorities attempting to combat the increasing appearance of racist slogans and banners in the country's stadiums ordered games to be suspended to remove the slogans.
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