Italy prop Nemer banned for rest of season over rotten banana 'gift'

Treviso prop Ivan Nemer was suspended until the end of the season by the Italian Rugby Federation (FIR) on Friday after an investigation found he was the source of the rotten banana given as a Christmas present to a black teammate.

Following a federal court decision, the 24-year-old Nemer, who has won 11 caps, is suspended until 30 June and has given up his appeal, the FIR said in a statement on Friday.

Argentina-born Nemer was initially suspended, but not named, on 22 December, a day after his teammate Cherif Traore, also an Italy prop, had taken to Instagram about the banana incident.

The 28-year-old, who was born in Guinea, had been given the 'gift' of a rotten banana during a Secret Santa exchange, a game where individuals buy presents that are then distributed anonymously.

Traore spoke out on Instagram after the incident saying "what hurt me the most was seeing most of my teammates present laughing", adding that he had to put on "a brave face every time I hear racist jokes... but yesterday was different".

Treviso stressed its "firm condemnation of any expression of racism" in a press release with the players apologising to Traore.

In its press release on Friday, the FIR said it had taken into consideration Nemer's desire "to shed full light on what had happened" as well as his apology and the damage he had done to the image of Italian rugby.

"Racism has never played and never will play any role in my life, just as it should play no role in the life of any of us," Nemer said in the statement.

"I come from a multicultural country like Argentina, where cultures have intermingled for more than a century."

Neither Nemer nor Traori featured in Italy coach Kieran Crowley's squad for the Six Nations which they begin against