Two Serie A players handed bans for blasphemy, yet none for racist chants

Two Italian Serie A players have been handed one-match bans for appearing to shout blasphemous language during their respective matches during the weekend.

The pair, Parma's Matteo Scozzarella and Sassuolo's Francesco Magnanelli, were picked up by cameras and appeared on live TV, shouting blasphemous language during their games against Inter and Verona respectively.

Blasphemy is taken very seriously in Italy, with it being considered a serious legal offence, and the Italian football association has decided to punish the pair for their actions.

A statement from the association read: “The footballers were clearly framed by the television footage while uttering a blasphemous expression that could be identified beyond reasonable doubt."

Shockingly, these acts have been given more importance than several racial abuse that players have received in Italy over the last few years.

One of the most notable incidents was Kalidou Koulibaly's outburst against the Inter fans that were shouting monkey noises at him, which was left unpunished.

Another incident was that of Sulley Muntari when he was playing for Pescara back in 2016/17, when he refused to play and walked off the pitch after being subjected to several racist chants from the Cagliari fans, and after expressing his frustrations to the referee for the chants, he received a yellow card, which only angered him even more.