Italy rugby player reveals racially ‘offensive’ holiday gift

TREVISO, Italy (AP) — Italy rugby player Cherif Traore has received apologies from his Benetton Treviso teammates after he revealed that he was given a rotten banana during a Secret Santa exchange. The 28-year-old prop who was born in Guinea described the anonymous gift as an “offensive gesture” made worse by the laughter of his teammates “as if everything is normal.” The club says a team meeting was convened by club president Amerino Zatta and that players apologized to Traore, who is Black. The club’s statement included a quote from Traore in which he accepted the apologies.