Another matchday, another incident of racist abuse being hurled at players in Serie A. On this occasion it came during AC Milan‘s fixture against Cagliari, which saw the Rossoneri pick up a 3rd consecutive away victory, strengthening their position at the top.
However, their full-time celebrations were tainted by the home support at Unipol Domus, who hurled heinous abuse at Milan goalkeeper Mike Maignan and defender Fikayo Tomori.
As seen in this clip below, the former Chelsea centre back walks over to his keeper to celebrate the win. Suspicion soon arises on his face and after an embrace with Maignan, he looks dubiously towards the spectators.
As reported after the game, his expressions came as a result of racist chants and comments directed towards him and Maignan.
Upon being questioned by a few Cagliari players, Tomori points to the crowd and tries to explain. Soon after, however, an all-out brawl broke out between the players, and chaotic scenes followed.
Both sides were involved in their entirety, and even the staff had to intervene. The likes of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Oliver Giroud were also involved, with plenty of shoving going on everywhere. This prompted Paolo Maldini, Milan legend and current technical director, to act as peacekeeper along with Milan manager Stefan Pioli.
Eventually, the quarrel was quelled and Milan has since confirmed reports of abuse against their players.
However, Cagliari captain Joao Pedro refuted the claims saying “This is not a pleasant situation to talk about, but I have been here for eight years and I will defend the fans because I did not hear anything.”
His comments came off as tone-deaf as fans pointed out other notable events of racism involving Cagliari fans, including those against Moise Kean and Romelu Lukaku in 2019.
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