Soccer: Atalanta chairman apologises for banana throwing

Fans hurled two bananas at AC Milan's Constant

(ANSA) - Bergamo, May 12 - Atalanta Chairman Antonio Percassi said Monday he had apologised after fans of the Bergamo club threw two bananas at AC Milan defender Kevin Constant during a Serie A match Sunday.

The Guinea international was hit by the bananas after giving away a penalty in the second half of Milan's 2-1 defeat at Bergamo in the latest in a string of racist incidents to mar Serie A's image. In a similar incident in Spain last month Barcelona's Dani Alves won international plaudits when he picked up a banana that had been thrown at him during a match against Villarreal and took a bite from it.

A statement on Atalanta's website said Percassi had called Milan CEO Adriano Galliani to apologise and would contact Constant too. The statement also called on Atalanta supporters to help the authorities identify the fan or fans that threw the bananas "in order to prevent them entering the Bergamo Stadium again".