Paola Egonu, star of the Italian voleibol, suffers a racist episode

by time news
  • “You can’t understand it, you can’t understand it. They asked me why I’m Italian…”, she explained about a comment she heard during the match for third place in the World Cup

Italian volleyball player Paola Egonu suffered a racist episode during the match for third place in the 2022 World Cup, held in the Netherlands and Poland, and announced that, “tired”, she would take a sports break to return with “more strength”.

Despite the great performance of the Italian women’s volleyball team in the World Cup, with a bronze obtained against the United States, on the third podium in 20 years for the ‘azzurra’ team, the discomfort reigns in the team due to the unfortunate episode that lived Egonu, one of the best players of the Italian team, who led the victory of his (3-0) in the Netherlands.

“You can’t understand it, you can’t understand it. They asked me why I’m Italian… This is the last game with the national team,” the player told her agent, Marco Reguzzoni, through tears, just after the match, in a video that has caused a stir and has gone viral on social networks. It is a phrase that, as Reguzzoni himself confirmed, the player heard during the match but that could not identify where it came from.

“The one pointed out is always me”

After his announcement, the alarms went off in Italy, but Egonu quickly corrected his words on the Sky Sport Italia microphones and explained that it had been the result of anger, that she was “tired” and that it would be “just a break”. “Every time I’m in the spotlight it hurts me to be attacked because I always put my heart into it and I never disrespect. It’s always an honor to wear the ‘azzurra’ shirt, I’d like to have a summer off to rest as a person and for myself head,” he said.

“It’s ugly to say it, I don’t want to take away the credit or respect from my teammates, but I’m always the one singled out. They’ll always see how I did it wrong or how I could have done it better. Mentally I’ve reached a point where I’d like to have a summer off to unwind and appreciate what I do even more,” she added.

The player charged against those who do not consider her Italian: “It makes me funny to think that I have read people asking me why I am Italian. I wonder why I have to represent them. I put my soul into it, I put my heart into it, I never disrespect anyone and it hurts me.”

Mario Draghi phone call

Egonu, who is now a member of the Turkish VakıfBank SK, has received the support of Mauro Fabris, president of the Women’s Volleyball League: “Thank you, what you do is always good. Another Venetian, Roberto Baggio, at the 1994 World Cup in the United States, missed his penalty in the final shootout. And we lost to Brazil. We admire you and love you. Forget the rest. Come back soon to Serie A. We already miss you” said Fabris.

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While the acting prime minister, Mario Draghi, telephoned the player today to show him “his full solidarity”, tell him that “it is a source of pride for Italian sport” and assure him that “he will have future opportunities to win other trophies wearing the national team’s shirt”.

In addition, numerous political and social exponents such as Giuseppe Conte, leader of the 5 Star Movement (M5S); Nicola Fratoianni, Secretary of the Italian Left; or Roberto Fico, former president of the Chamber of Deputies, among others, have shown their support for Egonu after the racist episode with messages on their social networks.

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