Italian federation (FIGC) president Carlo Tavecchio has been barred from the next UEFA Congress and from holding any position with European football’s governing body for six months a comment he made August, UEFA said on Tuesday.
Tavecchio caused an outcry when he spoke of the proliferation of non-Italian born players in Serie A, and referred to a fictitious African player he called Opti Poba “eating bananas” during his campaign for the FIGC presidency.
He later apologised for his remarks.
Despite the furore surrounding his comments, the 71-year-old still comfortably won the race to succeed Giancarlo Abete as head of the federation.
UEFA has also ordered Tavecchio to hold an event to raise awareness of the issue of racism in Italian football and promote an initiative aimed at tackling the problem in Europe.
The sanctions have been introduced with immediate effect.
