The French goalkeeper left the field in the 34th minute on Saturday evening, after monkey cries from the stands, before returning to finish the match.
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New case of racism to deplore in Serie A. The Italian championship match between Udinese and AC Milan was interrupted on Saturday January 20 due to racist insults aimed at the Milan goalkeeper and the team. France, Mike Maignan. The latter alerted the referee of the match for the first time in the 25th minute of play, leading to a call for calm from the speaker to the supporters.
The former Lille goalkeeper, the target of monkey cries by Udinese supporters, finally decided to leave the field in the 34th minute, followed by his teammates. They stayed at the edge of the pitch for a few minutes before returning to the locker room. The match was immediately interrupted by the referee in the 38th minute. Before resuming, after a five-minute interruption, which did not prevent some of the Udinese supporters from jeering at Mike Maignan every time he touched the ball.
After PSG’s victory in Orléans (4-1) in the Coupe de France, Kylian Mbappé reacted on X: “You are very far from being the only Mike Maignan. We are all with you. Always the same problems and no solution. Enough is enough”wrote the captain of the France team.
These images also caused a reaction from the Minister of National Education and Sports, Amélie Oudéa-Castéra. “Total support for Mike Maignan, victim of racist cries this evening during the meeting between Udinese and AC Milan. Admiration for his strong and essential gesture of leaving the pitch, followed by his teammates who supported him . Immense sadness that this could still happen in 2024. More than ever we must fight racism. On our fields and outside”she wrote on X.
AC Milan in support of its goalkeeper
Trailing 2-1, AC Milan finally snatched a 3-2 victory to consolidate their third place in the Italian championship standings. The Lombard club had 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”we could read.
“Seeing a boy as respectful and as decent as Mike treated like that particularly displeases me, it’s not something you should see in a football match”, for his part regretted coach Stefano Pioli. Since his arrival in Italy, Maignan had already been the victim of racism, insulted in September 2021 by a Juventus Turin supporter.