BY CNN
A week after England’s star players were racially abused during an international match in Montenegro, a rising star in Italian football was subject to racist abuse Tuesday during a Serie A match.
Teenage Juventus striker Moise Kean, born in Italy to Ivorian parents, had to endure monkey chants from a section of Cagliari fans during a game Juve won 2-0. After scoring his team’s second goal late in the match, the 19-year-old held his arms aloft in front of the home fans, which intensified the abuse.
“The best way to respond to racism,” he wrote on Instagram afterwards aside a picture of himself with arms outstretched.
Teenager criticized by teammate
But Kean’s teammate Leonardo Bonucci said the striker had to take “50-50 of the blame.”
“Moise should not have done that and the Curva [fans] should not have reacted in that way,” the defender told Sky Sports Italia.
“Kean knows that when goals are scored he just has to think about cheering with the team, hugging them all together. It was an episode and even he knows he could have done something different.”
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England and Manchester City star Raheem Sterling criticized the defender for his remarks, posting on Instagram: “All you can do now is laugh.”
Juventus manager Massimiliano Allegri also criticized Kean for his celebration.
“He shouldn’t have celebrated in that manner,” said Allegri, according to the club’s official website.
“He is a young man and he has to learn, but certain things from the crowd also shouldn’t be heard.”
In his post-match interview Allegri called those racially abusing Kean “idiots who do stupid things and ruin it for everyone else” and said that the authorities did not want to tackle the problem.
“You need great intelligence to deal with these situations and should not go to provoke people. That, of course, does not mean the idiots in the crowd and the way they reacted should be justified,” he told reporters.
“I don’t think talking about it all the time helps. I don’t think halting play helps, because not everyone in the stadium did that.
“We need to use the cameras, find those who are doing it and punish them. It’s very simple, identify them and not one-year ban or two, just give them a lifetime ban.
“We’ve got the technology, it can be done if the authorities want to. The problem is, they don’t really want to.”
At the time of publishing, CNN has not received a response to requests for comment from Serie A, Juventus or Cagliari.
Warning issued to crowd
According to reports, the match was delayed by around three minutes and a warning was issued to the crowd over the public address system.
Juventus captain Giorgio Chiellini led the player protest to referee Piero Giacomelli, while Juve midfielder Blaise Matuidi — who complained last year that he was subject to racist abuse at the same stadium — also spoke to the referee and reportedly threatened to walk off.Luca Ceppitelli, Cagliari captain, was also seen appealing directly to the home fans behind the goal for the offensive chants to stop.
Cagliari president Tommaso Giulini told Sky Italia: “We should avoid moralism. Kean was wrong as the Juventus players also said … if there were racist chants they must be condemned, of course.”
Earlier on Tuesday, Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin said referees would be told to be “brave” and stop matches where there was racial abuse from fans.
“The moment a match is stopped, or it’s not played, I think that 90% of normal people in the stadium would kick the asses of those idiots,” said Ceferin.
A week after England’s star players were racially abused during an international match in Montenegro, a rising star in Italian football was subject to racist abuse Tuesday during a Serie A match.
Teenage Juventus striker Moise Kean, born in Italy to Ivorian parents, had to endure monkey chants from a section of Cagliari fans during a game Juve won 2-0. After scoring his team’s second goal late in the match, the 19-year-old held his arms aloft in front of the home fans, which intensified the abuse.
“The best way to respond to racism,” he wrote on Instagram afterwards aside a picture of himself with arms outstretched.
Teenager criticized by teammate
But Kean’s teammate Leonardo Bonucci said the striker had to take “50-50 of the blame.”
“Moise should not have done that and the Curva [fans] should not have reacted in that way,” the defender told Sky Sports Italia.
“Kean knows that when goals are scored he just has to think about cheering with the team, hugging them all together. It was an episode and even he knows he could have done something different.”
England and Manchester City star Raheem Sterling criticized the defender for his remarks, posting on Instagram: “All you can do now is laugh.”
Juventus manager Massimiliano Allegri also criticized Kean for his celebration.
“He shouldn’t have celebrated in that manner,” said Allegri, according to the club’s official website.
“He is a young man and he has to learn, but certain things from the crowd also shouldn’t be heard.”
In his post-match interview Allegri called those racially abusing Kean “idiots who do stupid things and ruin it for everyone else” and said that the authorities did not want to tackle the problem.
“You need great intelligence to deal with these situations and should not go to provoke people. That, of course, does not mean the idiots in the crowd and the way they reacted should be justified,” he told reporters.
“I don’t think talking about it all the time helps. I don’t think halting play helps, because not everyone in the stadium did that.
“We need to use the cameras, find those who are doing it and punish them. It’s very simple, identify them and not one-year ban or two, just give them a lifetime ban.
“We’ve got the technology, it can be done if the authorities want to. The problem is, they don’t really want to.”
At the time of publishing, CNN has not received a response to requests for comment from Serie A, Juventus or Cagliari.
Warning issued to crowd
According to reports, the match was delayed by around three minutes and a warning was issued to the crowd over the public address system.
Juventus captain Giorgio Chiellini led the player protest to referee Piero Giacomelli, while Juve midfielder Blaise Matuidi — who complained last year that he was subject to racist abuse at the same stadium — also spoke to the referee and reportedly threatened to walk off.
Luca Ceppitelli, Cagliari captain, was also seen appealing directly to the home fans behind the goal for the offensive chants to stop.
Cagliari president Tommaso Giulini told Sky Italia: “We should avoid moralism. Kean was wrong as the Juventus players also said … if there were racist chants they must be condemned, of course.”
Earlier on Tuesday, Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin said referees would be told to be “brave” and stop matches where there was racial abuse from fans.
“The moment a match is stopped, or it’s not played, I think that 90% of normal people in the stadium would kick the asses of those idiots,” said Ceferin.
READ: Fans back idea of points deduction to curb racism in football
Racism still a problem in football
During a Euro 2020 qualifying match on March 25, England players were subjected to abuse in Montenegro, which led to forward Sterling to call on football’s authorities to do more to tackle racism.
Several incidents of racists abuse have been reported in English football this season, while last year the German Football Federation came under scrutiny after star player Mesut Özil, who has Turkish heritage, announced his retirement from international football for what he called a “feeling of racism and disrespect.”
Over the years, there have been a number of ugly incidents in Italian football.
A Boxing Day game between Napoli and AC Milan last December was marred by racist chanting towards Napoli’s Senegalese defender Kalidou Koulibaly, with Napoli coach Carlo Ancelotti saying he would be happy for his side to stop playing the next time a member of his team was racially abused.
In 2017, Ghanaian footballer Sulley Muntari walked off the pitch after hearing abuse while playing for Pescara.
