A Turkish lawyer is suing Serie A champion Inter Milan over one of its away jerseys, which displays a thick red cross against a white background. Aside from looking suspiciously like the English flag, the red cross apparently reminded Muslims in Turkey, who saw the strip when the Inter played Fenerbahce in the Champions League, of the 11th Century Crusades, when the Templar Knights and other Christian military orders descended on the Holy Land to free Jerusalem and the region's many Christians from Muslim rule.
Turkish lawyer Baris Kaska is now taking legal action against the club for wearing "Crusader-style" red crosses that he contends are "offensive to Muslim sensibilities." He's also appealing to UEFA, soccer's European governing body, to have the match, which Inter won 3-0, annulled. The Italian champion wore the away strip during last month's Champions League clash at the San Siro to commemorate the club's centenary.
"While I was watching the game I felt profound grief in my soul." Kaska told the Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia, adding that the cross symbolized "Western racist superiority over Islam" and "manifested in the most explicit manner the superiority of one religion over another."
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