Feyenoord Fans Throw Giant Inflatable Banana Toward Roma's Gervinho

With football still reeling from a racially charged incident in Paris involving fans blocking a black man from entering a train, the sport was potentially dealt another blow on Thursday in Feyenoord's match against Roma.

Images circulated of a giant inflatable banana that was allegedly thrown toward Gervinho, an Ivorian forward for Roma, at De Kuip in Rotterdam, Netherlands.

It's worth noting, though, that bananas are often used inside of Feyenoord's home ground, as pointed out by 101 Great Goals and Dutch Football. 

"

In short, Feyenoord fans always have inflatable bananas at their stadium. Its a tradition and nothing at all to do with racism.

— Dutch Football (@football_oranje) February 26, 2015"

Still, the match was temporarily halted as the referee assessed the situation.

See the whole video here (via Deadspin).

The match descended into further chaos, as it (again) had to be halted when angry fans threw debris on the pitch in protest after Feyenoord's Mitchell te Vrede was sent off.

"

Feyenoord boss Fred Rutten has called the 'banana incident', "Unnecessary fuss" and opinions that it was a racist action "nonsense".

— Dutch Football (@football_oranje) February 26, 2015"

Gervinho had the last laugh, though, as he scored a pivotal goal in the 60th minute to give Roma a 2-1 lead on the night and go on to advance 3-2 on aggregate.

"

Here is the Te Vrede challenge that earned a red card https://t.co/5IxJBXRkc8

— Dutch Football (@football_oranje) February 26, 2015"

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