Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1069175
maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 9 JANUARY 2019 21 FOOTBALL SPORTS 'Racism on pitch, unacceptable', Fiorentina boss in Malta visit ENGLISH football star Wayne Rooney was arrested in December at Dulles Air- port outside Washington, D.C. for pub- lic intoxication. Rooney, who has played for U.S. soc- cer team D.C. United since last year, was booked into the Loudoun County Adult Detention Center on December 16th, on a charge of public intoxication stemming from an arrest by the Metro- politan Washington Airports Authority Police, the local sheriff's office said. The 33-year-old footballer was ar- rested at an international arrivals gate at Dulles after he triggered a door alarm but did not breach airport security, a Metropolitan Washington Airports Au- thority spokesman said in a statement. He received a $25 fine, according to court documents. Rooney was released later the same day on a personal recognizance bond, said Kraig Troxell, a spokesman for the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office. It was not immediately clear why au- thorities had delayed releasing details of Rooney's arrest for more than two weeks. Rooney's agent did not immediately respond to requests for comment. A spokesman for the player was quoted by British media as saying he was "disori- entated" after mixing sleeping pills with alcohol during a flight from Saudi Ara- bia. D.C. United said it was aware of the reports of Rooney's arrest. "We understand the media's interest in this matter but believe this is a pri- vate matter for Wayne that D.C. United will handle internally," the club said in a statement obtained by the Washington Post. D.C. United did not immediately re- spond to a request for comment. Rooney, England's former captain and all-time top scorer, joined the Ma- jor League Soccer club in mid-2018 in a deal that was reportedly worth more than $12 million and made him the highest paid player in D.C. United's his- tory. Liverpool-born Rooney was the lat- est addition to an elite list of former England captains to cross the Atlantic, following David Beckham and Steven Gerrard. Rooney burst into the consciousness of English soccer when he made his Premier League debut for Everton at age 16. He joined Manchester United in 2004 and stayed there for 13 seasons - win- ning five English titles, one Champions League, one FA Cup, three League Cups and becoming the club's all-time lead- ing scorer with 253 goals. He earned 119 caps for England - a national record for an outfield player - and in 2015 he surpassed Manchester United great Bobby Charlton's England goalscoring record, ending his interna- tional career with 53 goals for his coun- try. Wayne Rooney makes headlines with US arrest for intoxication DAVID HUDSON FIORENTINA'S vice-president Gino Sali- ca has come out against any display of racism shown on the football pitch, calling it abso- lutely unacceptable. In comments to MaltaToday, Salica – who was reacting to an incident last month which saw racist chants directed at Napoli defender Kalidou Koulibaly during a game against Inter at Milan's San Siro stadium – said that football should be a positive force. "Football should be something good, nice and beautiful. What happened in Milan a few days ago is unacceptable— that is not sport," he said, highlighting that he agreed that such an incident should lead to the match being stopped. This is in contrast to comments made by Italy's Interior Minister Matteo Sal- vini, who opposed the suspension of matches due to racist chants from sup- porters. Salica said that there was the need for a common protocol on how to deal with such racism-related issues, in- stead of having the matter subjected to the different opinions of those involved in the sport. The football club's vice-president was yesterday at a press conference in Golden Bay, along with the club's coach Stefano Pioli, where it was announced that the top Italian team would be playing against Maltese Premier League clubs Hiberni- ans and Gzira during their winter train- ing camp in Malta. "The Lega Nazionale Professionisti Se- rie A and Serie B should take a decision on how to handle racism. This is a very serious and critical issue with no easy so- lution, especially if everyone has a differ- ent view. We need to find a common line of thought quickly because this is an un- acceptable situation," Salica emphasised. Salica also said that Fiorentina chose Malta for winter training camp not merely because of geographical vicinity, but also because of the infrastructure the island has in place, and its good terrain quality. "We believe in the continued re- lationship between Fiorentina and Mal- ta," he said. His comments came after an announce- ment by Tourism Minister Konrad Mizzi that Malta should be seeing at least 20 teams from around the world coming for training between January and March. "This tournament will also offer op- portunities to Maltese footballers to play matches with world class 'campioni.' I hope this will inspire Maltese youngsters to take football very seriously," he said. Gino Salica addressing the news conference Stefano Pioli Wayne Rooney