Rugby: Benetton's Nemer banned for racist banana prank

(ANSA) - ROME, JAN 27 - An Italian Rugby Federation tribunal on Friday banned Benetton Treviso prop Ivan Nemer until the end of June for a racist prank he played on teammate Cherif Traoré last month, giving him a banana in the club's 'secret Santa' exchange of Christmas presents.
    Nemer, a 24-year-old who has 11 Italy caps, will also take part in a racism-awareness programme as part of an agreement with sporting prosecutors.
    "Racism has no role in my life and it never will," said Nemer, who was born in Argentina.
    "I am sorry about the stupidity of my gesture. What happened does not represent me".
    Guinea-born forward Traoré, who has 15 Italy caps, published a post about the incident on his Instagram account and he said the worst thing was "seeing most of my team mates laugh... as if it were all normal". (ANSA).