Italy prop gifted rotten banana for 'Secret Santa', accuses Benetton teammates of racism

Italian international prop Cherif Traore has accused his Benetton Treviso teammates of racism after he was gifted a rotten banana as a "Secret Santa" present for Christmas by one of his clubmates.

The 28-year-old, who has played 15 Tests for Italy, said what hurt him the most was that "most of his teammates laughed" at the offensive gesture, to which Traore took huge exception.

The prop did not name the offender(s) in an Instagram post about the incident.

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"Christmas is coming and as traditionally in a team, it’s Secret Santa time. Yesterday, when it was my turn, I found a banana inside my present. A rotten banana inside a bag of moisture," said Traore, as quoted by the Daily Mail.

"Apart from calling the gesture offensive, what hurt me most was seeing most of my mates present laughing. As if everything is normal, I'm used to it or, better, I've had to get used to it – having to make a good face whenever I hear racist jokes in order to try not to hate the people close to me."

The United Rugby Championship (URC) club released a statement condemning any forms of racism and discrimination. However, Benetton did not explicitly mention that they would conduct an investigation into the matter.

"Benetton would like to reiterate that it has always condemned any expression of racism and/or form of discrimination. That is not part of our culture," Benetton said.

Name and shame the scumbag Should be out of a job ?? pic.twitter.com/xWwcYX99xh