Lazio defender Stefan de Vrij has come to the defence of his former club Feyenoord claiming that throwing bananas is a tradition among fans.
UEFA subsequently charged fans of the Dutch club with racist behaviour following an incident with Roma’s Gervinho in the Europa League.
“Making the Champions League with Lazio would be a great achievement,” he told reporters.
“Last summer when I arrived [at Lazio] the club told us all what the plans were, and that we could gel and get better quickly, but to already be so high in the table is a surprise.”
Since a shaky start early on in the season, de Vrij has gone on to establish himself as one of Serie A’s best defenders, though he admits it has taken work.
“I have seen a lot of videos from my games, so I can see where I need to get better,” the Dutchman continued.
He then spoke about the unfortunate incident in the Europa League, where it looked as if a banana was thrown in the direction of Roma forward Gervinho, by fans of his former club Feyenoord.
“I don’t think there was an agenda there,” de Vrij stated. “I know that there is a tradition for doing this sort of thing [among Feyenoord fans].”
