According to reports, the ban to close Juventus' Tribuna Sud stand at Allianz Stadium for one game in relation to racist chants made at Romelu Lukaku last week has been overturned. The decision was taken after a successful appeal made by the Bianconeri, allowing the team to host Napoli in front of a packed crowd on Sunday, April 23 in the Serie A.
The ban was initially imposed by an Italian FA sports judge, Gerardo Mastrandrea, on the Allianz Stadium after the first leg of the Coppa Italia semi-final on April 5. The fixture saw racist noises and gestures made by the home fans towards Romelu Lukaku after he had scored a late equaliser for Inter Milan.
In response, the Chelsea loanee was holding his finger to his lips as a gesture towards Juventus fans to tell them off. It led to Lukaku receiving a second yellow card and getting sent off before the eventual finish to the match in Turin. The moment led to a scuffle between Juve and Inter players which ended with Juan Cuadrado and Samir Handanovic receiving straight reds from the referee.
In the aftermath of the ban imposed on the Allianz Stadium, Juventus worked with the concerned authorities and identified a couple of fans responsible for the racist chants against Lukaku. They suspended one minor fan from attending their home matches for 10 years while banning the adult fan for life.
Thereafter, Juventus made an appeal to the Italian FA sports judge, who concluded that the club had done enough to get their stadium ban overturned. With that, the Tribuna Sud stand in the Allianz Stadium will be open for the fans to watch their team play against Napoli in the Serie A.
