Fiorentina forward Kevin-Prince Boateng will be setting up an anti-racism task force from 2020 in a bid to fight discrimination against players of predominantly African descent.
There has been a wave of racist incidents in the Serie A this season that targeted players like Romelu Lukaku, Moise Kean, Mario Balotelli, Senegal defender Kalidou Koulibaly, likewise AC Milan and Ivory Coast midfielder Franck Kessie.
Boateng, was equally subject to racist chants while playing for AC Milan in 2013, walking off the pitch in a friendly match against Pro Patria, with the game abandoned after 26 minutes.
“I’ll do it in 2020. I’m organising my task force with events, involving other players,” Boateng told Italian publication, Corriere Della Sera.
“I’m sick, people don’t understand how Balotelli, Boateng or Koulibaly feel when they get home. We are alone. I get crazy when I hear comments like ‘five million, so much you earn’, there are scars on you that you can’t erase.”
Though Italian football authorities have put some measures in place such as VAR cameras fishing out fans who engage in racist chants, Boateng thinks it’s not enough and is calling for harsher punishment.
“The situation has worsened [since then]. At the time we played a friendly match, now such behaviour should be repeated if necessary in a championship match,” the former Tottenham Hotspur player continued.
“Compared to then, even more money is running and more and more children are watching us. We need more drastic measures.
“Disqualification of the camp, companies must pay for the behaviour of their fans. And then in the stadiums, more cameras should be installed to identify those who perform certain gestures.
“In any case, we players should ensure greater peace of mind for the referee, so that even in the face of pressure from the public in certain circumstances he has the strength to say “you don’t play anymore.”
Boateng has featured 10 times in all competitions for Fiorentina this season, scoring once. He was an unused substitute in La Viola‘s 5-2 bashing by Cagliari before the international break, having started the previous two matches.