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Italian TV analyst fired for racist remarks about Inter's Lukaku

Claudio Villa - Inter / FC Internazionale / Getty

Italian football analyst Luciano Passirani was sacked as a result of racist comments made about Romelu Lukaku on television over the weekend.

The pundit was relieved of his duties after claiming on the "Qui Studio a Voi Stadio" show that the only way to stop the Inter forward is to give him "10 bananas to eat" during a debate on Lukaku's impact for his new club, according to Marcus Christenson of the Guardian.

"Lukaku is one of the best signings that Inter could have made. I don’t see another player like him on any other team in Italy. He is one of the strongest, I like him a lot because he has that strength: He is the twin of (Duvan) Zapata at Atalanta," Passirani said.

He added: "They have something extra that the rest don’t have, and then they score the goals and drag your team forward. This guy kills you in the one-on-ones; if you try to challenge him you wind up on the floor. Either you have 10 bananas to eat, that you give to him, or ..."

The show's director, Fabio Ravezzani, announced Passirani will never appear on the program again.

"Mr. Passirani is 80 years old and to compliment Lukaku he used a metaphor that turned out to be racist," he explained. "I think it was a terrible lack of momentary lucidity. I cannot tolerate any kind of errors, even if momentary."

Lukaku was at the center of another racist incident earlier this month when he was subjected to monkey chants from Cagliari fans. Afterward, a group of Inter ultras defended the Cagliari supporters by attempting to explain the abuse was a "form of respect."

Despite the distractions, the striker has been a positive addition for Inter, scoring twice in three Serie A appearances after his transfer from Manchester United.

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