Italy manager Roberto Mancini has defended children who dressed up as Nigerian striker Victor Osimhen during carnival week in Naples. The tradition of wearing costumes, masks and capes sees both adults and children attend the carnival dressed as their heroes, and this year several youngsters chose to embody Osimhen, who has scored 20 goals in 24 matches for Napoli this season.
A video that has amassed millions of views on Twitter shows a boy in a Napoli jersey, blackened with a mask to resemble Osimhen. The outfit sparked backlash on social media, with fans condemning the practice as racist. Nigerian writer Sabrina Efionayi criticized the parents on Facebook for allowing their children to use blackface during the carnival. She wrote, “Every time a player with black skin excels in a team (in this case, Napoli), I always feel this tremendous angst over how people think he should be celebrated. From Gino Sorbillo painting his face black to show solidarity with Koulibaly, to the children you painted brown in ‘honour’ of Osimhen for Carnival. Trust me, it is not celebrating him at all. It gives me goosebumps if you think it is showing solidarity, being amusing or supportive of the Nigerian player.”
Mancini responded swiftly on Instagram, posting an image of the young fans in their Osimhen outfits. “Where some see racism, I see only wonder,” the Euro 2020 winner wrote, adding, “Sport is inclusion and you kids are giants!”
Italy’s approach to racial sensitivity has been heavily questioned in recent years, especially in relation to the popular television programme *Tale e Quale Show*, where white celebrities have used blackface to transform into iconic music artists and perform as them.
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