DescentBB

Last week, a veterans group in the Italian city of Bolzano gave an "athlete of the year" award to Elena Pirrone, world champion of junior cycling. The group set up a Christmas tree for the event. The next morning, the organization's president was woken up by a phone call. He was told to remove the Christmas tree, so as to avoid offending Muslims.

"On Friday morning, the president of the Atesini veterans, Alberto Ferrini, was woken up by a phone call, asking him to remove that tree, because at midday a Muslim association would meet in the hall and that decoration could have offended the sensibility of those present," local paper Alto Adige reported.