Mike Maignan on Saturday fired back at “ignorant” fans who aimed monkey chants at the France goalkeeper during AC Milan’s dramatic 3-2 win at Udinese Calcio, which was temporarily halted due to the abuse, while FIFA president Gianni Infantino called for worldwide stadium bans for fans and “automatic forfeits” for teams whose supporters hurl “abhorrent” abuse.
Milan are six points behind league leaders Inter, who are in Saudi Arabia contesting the Italian Super Cup, in third place after Noah Okafor poked home the winner in the third minute of stoppage time.
However, the match was marred by a group of Udinese supporters racially abusing Maignan during the first half, leading to referee Fabio Maresca stopping play and a livid Maignan storming down the tunnel with his teammates.
Photo: Reuters
Talking to Sky Sport, Maignan said that he first heard monkey chants when he collected the ball for his first goal-kick, after which he “said nothing.”
“Then for the second goal-kick they did it again. I called to the dugout and the fourth official and I told them what had happened. I said that we can’t play in these conditions because it’s not the first time that it’s happened with me or other players,” he said. “They’re ignorant people... You can be booed or whistled when you’re away from home, that’s normal, but what happened today has no place in football.”
Play resumed after about five minutes.
Saturday was not the first time that Maignan has been racially abused by supporters in Italy. He was targeted by a Juventus fan in September 2021.
Maignan described himself as “black and proud” after that incident, asking whether Italy’s soccer authorities knew what it was like “to hear insults and chants reducing us to animals.”
Infantino said there was no place for discrimination of any kind in soccer or broader society.
“The events that took place in Udine and Sheffield [Wednesday] on Saturday are totally abhorrent and completely unacceptable,” he said in a statement.
Coventry midfielder Kasey Palmer accused Sheffield Wednesday fans of doing the same toward him during their English Championship clash, which his team won 2-1.
“We need all the relevant stakeholders to take action, starting with education in schools so that future generations understand that this is not part of football or society,” Infantino said. “As well as the three-step process [match stopped, match re-stopped, match abandoned], we have to implement an automatic forfeit for the team whose fans have committed racism and caused the match to be abandoned as well as worldwide stadium bans and criminal charges for racists.”
Last week, SS Lazio were hit with a one-match stand closure after supporters directed monkey chants at Romelu Lukaku during their Italian Cup win over local rivals AS Roma.
In Sheffield, Palmer labeled the abuse “abhorrent and wholly unacceptable,” with the match paused as the referee spoke to both managers on the touchline.
SIBLING RIVALRY: Marc Marquez was locked in a duel with his little brother, falling behind at one point before recovering for his first season-opening victory since 2014 Six-time world champion Marc Marquez yesterday won the MotoGP season-opening Thailand Grand Prix to complete a dominant debut weekend at his new Ducati Lenovo Team, having also romped to Saturday’s sprint. The Spanish great took the 26-lap grand prix by 1.732 seconds for his 63rd MotoGP victory from younger brother Alex Marquez, who is still seeking a first checkered flag, with Francesco Bagnaia third to complete an all-Ducati podium. It completed a perfect weekend for Marc Marquez, who took pole position, the sprint victory and the grand prix win for a maximum 37 points to open the 22-leg 2025 campaign. He led from
AC Milan’s slender hopes of reaching next season’s UEFA Champions League took another hit on Thursday with a 2-1 defeat at Bologna which left them eight points from Serie A’s top four. Sergio Conceicao’s team sit eighth, some way behind fourth-placed Juventus after losing an entertaining contest at the Stadio Renato Dall’Ara, a match which was rescheduled from October last year due to torrential rain and flooding. Swathes of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy, much of which is fertile agricultural land, had been left under water following a massive autumn downpour. Dan Ndoye prodded home the decisive goal in the 82nd minute
VALUABLE POINT: Relegation-threatened Valencia snatched a thrilling 3-3 draw at CA Osasuna thanks to a remarkable backheel volley by Umar Sadiq Barcelona on Sunday secured a comfortable 4-0 win over Real Sociedad to move back top of La Liga. Aritz Elustondo’s early red card gave Hansi Flick’s side a comfortable afternoon, with Gerard Martin, Marc Casado, Ronald Araujo and Robert Lewandowski on the score sheet. Atletico Madrid beat Athletic Bilbao on Saturday to temporarily knock the Catalans from their perch, while Real Madrid, third, lost at Real Betis Balompie. Flick was able to rotate his side a little ahead of the UEFA Champions League round-of-16 visit to face SL Benfica tomorrow and still move one point above Atletico. “There were a lot of things that
Former Australian motorcycle gang member-turned-golfer Ryan Peake, who served a lengthy jail term for assault, yesterday produced a “life-changing” maiden win to qualify for The Open Championship. Peake held his nerve for a one-stroke victory at the New Zealand Open, earning him a berth at the major in Portrush, Northern Ireland, in July, pending clearance to travel as a convicted criminal. The 31-year-old from Perth celebrated animatedly and was showered with champagne by friends on the 18th green of the Millbrook Resort course near Queenstown after a redemption story rarely seen in the refined sport of golf. Peake held back tears as he
RSS