Italy is racist says volleyball star Paola Egonu

(ANSA) - ROME, FEB 9 - Volleyball star Paola Egonu said Thursday that "Italy is racist country".
    "Not everyone is racist and not everyone is bad," she told a press conference before she has a stint as co-presenter of the Sanremo Song Festival on Thursday night alongside festival director Amadeus and veteran pop star Gianni Morandi.
    "But if you ask me if there's racism, the answer is yes.
    "Italy is improving on this front and I don't want to play the victim, but I tell it like it is".
    The 24-year-old, who has Nigerian roots, announced that she would be taking a break from the Italian national team last year after being subjected to racism.
    The announcement came after a video went viral on social media in which a clearly upset Egonu is captured telling her agent that she gets asked "how come" she is Italian and saying she has played for Italy for the last time.
    The recording was taken after she helped Italy beat the United States to claim the bronze medal at the world championships, with the Azzurri missing out on the final following defeat to Brazil in the last four. (ANSA).