Racist Fans Kept Thuram From Lazio
Saturday 25th August 2001
France defender Lilian Thuram has revealed that he joined Juventus rather than Lazio because he would not have felt comfortable playing in front of fans noted for their racist attitude. "It was clear to me that I could not share emotions with people who hold such ideas," he explained.
Lazio were among the front-runners to sign Thuram when he decided to leave Parma in the summer, and even arranged a meeting between the defender and the Irreducibili, one of the most notorious fan-clubs.
"When they arranged the meeting, I was touched," Thuram said. "And that's why I agreed to meet some of their fans. They came with a positive message, and you can't refuse a friendly hand."
Thuram, who became the most expensive defender in history when he joined Juve in a �23 million deal, admitted that he was disappointed not to be linking up with his international team-mate Zinedine Zidane at club level, but insisted that the club was more important than any one player.
"I was disappointed when Zidane left, because he's a reference point for the world, but you don't choose a club according to the players they have," he explained. "You choose it for its history, for its philosophy and its record.
"Juve always lose their best players. Real will also lose Zidane some day, whether they sell him, or whether he retires, just as Juve lost Platini. But I didn't come fort Zidane; I came for Juve.
"Zidane represents world football, but players move on and clubs remain. Juve are an institution who know what they are doing when. When they sold Zidane they bought Pavel Nedved, Marcelo Salas and Gianluigi Buffon and they're players any club would like to have."
