Two years ago, Italian volleyball player stepped down from volleyball because of racial abuse and comments on social media and public figures. Now, with her return to the sport and a gold medal at the Paris Olympics Paola is being subject to the same treatment that made her leave in the first place. In a deeply disturbing incident, the volleyball star's ''Italianess'' is being called into question once again.
''Italian-ness''
Egonu, who is of Nigerian descent, not only returned to volleyball this year but was also named 'Most Valuable Player' at the Paris Games after leading Italy to victory against the US and subsequently a gold medal. Italy's women's volleyball team was almost undefeated at this year's Olympics.
In honour of this achievement, Italian street artist Laika uncovered a mural of Egonu opposite the headquarters of the Italian National Olympic Committee. The mural showed Egonu in full volleyball stance and spiking a ball bearing the words, ''Stop racism, hate, xenophobia, ignorance.''
In a post on Instagram, the artist wrote, ''Racism is a social plague that must be overcome. Doing so via sport is so important.'' She dedicated the mural to ''all the Italians not recognized as such.''
The mural was titled, ''Italian-ness'', referring to a comment by European Parliament member Roberto Vannacci. CNN reported that Egonu had previously lost a defamation lawsuit against him for commenting that her features did not ''represent Italian-ness''.
Even after Egonu and the Italian team's victory in Paris, Vannaci told Italian media, ''I am very happy that the Italian volleyball team won and I congratulate all the athletes, especially Paola Egonu, who is a very talented athlete. I have never questioned her 'Italian-ness' but I want to point out again that her physical characteristics do not represent the majority of Italians.''
There is no doubt that Egonu is truly Italian. She was even bestowed one of the highest Italian civilian honours by the President in 2021.
Why the outrage?
Public outrage spiked when the mural was defaced not even a day after its reveal. Paola's face in the mural was painted over with pink, in addition to the words on the ball, which became illegible.
Italian officials have since publicly condemned the act. In a post on X, Rome's mayor Roberto Gualtieri wrote, referring to the vandalization of the mural, ''It is an insult to a great Italian who brought the colours of our country to the top of the world and to a committed artist. It is sad to note that in 2024 there are still racists, prisoners of their own ignorance who think they can turn back the hands of history.''
Italian foreign minister Antonio Tajani also wrote on X, ''Forza Paola, you are our pride.''
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