victim of racist chants in the middle of a match, French goalkeeper Mike Maignan leaves the pitch in Italy

AC Milan and France goalkeeper Mike Maignan left the field after being the target of racist abuse on Saturday during his team’s match at the Udinese stadium.

While he had to play a six-meter throw, Maignan, visibly shocked and angry, headed towards the sidelines in the 34th minute of play and was then followed by his AC teammates. Milan.

While Maignan, 28, explained to them that Udinese supporters, installed in the stands behind his goal, were shouting monkeys at him, the Milan players remained at the edge of the field for several minutes.

Already a victim of racism

They then returned to the locker room where, according to images from the DAZN platform, Maignan, beside himself, was comforted by teammates, such as the Portuguese Rafael Leao, and members of the AC Milan management. The match was immediately interrupted by the match referee in the 38th minute, then resumed after a five-minute interruption. The goalkeeper, born in Guyana, to a Guadeloupean father and a Haitian mother, had already alerted the referee of the match, Fabio Maresca, in the 25th minute of play.

Despite messages broadcast in the stadium, the racist insults continued, until the match was interrupted after a strong gesture from the Blues goalkeeper. On his return to the field, while his team led 1-0 since the 31st minute of play, Maignan, trained at Paris SG and passed through Lille (2015-21) before joining AC Milan, was jeered at every time he touched the ball.

He conceded a first goal in the 41st minute on a long shot from Lazar Samardzic, then a second after the break by Florian Thauvin (60th). AC Milan published a message of support for its goalkeeper on its social networks before the end of the match: “There is absolutely no place for racism in our sport, we are outraged, we are with you” , wrote the Lombard club. Since his arrival in Italy, Maignan has already been the victim of racism, insulted in September 2021 by a Juventus Turin supporter. Italian football still cannot get rid of the scourge of racism, each season is punctuated by incidents of a racist or anti-Semitic nature. This season, several clubs have been sanctioned for racist insults and chants from their supporters, but the sanctions are considered far too weak to have a lasting effect.

Fiorentina was sanctioned in November with a suspended match behind closed doors, after racist chants were sung by ultras against three Juventus players, Dusan Vlahovic, Moise Kean and Weston McKennie before and after the home defeat against Juve (1-0). For its part, Lazio Rome will play its next home match in front of several closed stands at the Stadio Olimpico, as punishment following the monkey cries targeting Roma’s Belgian striker Romelu Lukaku during the European Cup derby. ‘Italy.