Italian official under fire for allegedly calling female footballers ‘a bunch of lesbians’
Version 0 of 1. An Italian football official is under pressure to resign after allegedly referring to female players as a “bunch of lesbians”. Felice Belloli, the president of the county’s amateur football association, allegedly made the comments when discussing funding for women’s football in the country. The Italian Football Association (FIGC) opened an investigation on Friday after it was sent the minutes of the meeting of the Lega Nazionale Dilettanti (LND). Belloli allegedly said: “That’s enough, we can’t always talk about giving money to this bunch of lesbians,” but on Friday denied having used those words. “I never signed those minutes,” Belloli told La Gazzetta dello Sport. “Can you see my signature on them? No, and I can tell you why – because minutes can be taken and amended by anybody. I know how the minutes are taken at the LND. All I am saying is that I did not utter that phrase.” However, Sonia Pessotto, a former player and a member of the council that looks after women’s football for the FIGC, said on Friday that she was at the meeting and that Belloli had used the term. “I was there and he did use the phrase ‘bunch of lesbians’. Now he has to resign from his position as the president of the amateur football association.” Luisa Rizzitelli, the president of Assist, the national association for female athletes, agreed that Belloli should resign. “We don’t consider the word lesbian to be offensive, but in this context it is unacceptable and homophobic,” she told Tutto Sport. “Obviously, the Italian women’s team winning bronze in the World Cup last year is not enough for him to respect athletes in this discipline, their coaches and managers.” Patrizia Panico, the Verona and Italy midfielder, said that if the comments had been accurately reported then they were “sexist, male chauvinist, and ignorant”. The president of the FIGC, Carlo Tavecchio , said: “If Belloli said these words then it is a serious matter. It is an odious and unacceptable phrase.” Tavecchio was himself under fire for having referred to African players as “banana eaters” last year. He had said in July: “England identifies the players coming in and, if they are professional, they are allowed to play. Here, on the other hand, let’s say there’s [fictional player] Opti Poba, who has come here, who previously was eating bananas and now is a first-team player for Lazio … In England he has to demonstrate his CV and his pedigree.” Tavecchio, who was coincidentally holding the post Belloli now occupies, was widely condemned for his comments and banned from holding any Fifa post for six months, but was still elected president of FIGC a month later. |