It's Not My First Time Nor Am I The First Person, Says AC Milan's Mike Maignan on Racial Abuse in Italy

AC Milan goalkeeper Mike Maignan says too many people are “complicit” in allowing racism to continue blighting soccer, and urged authorities to take stronger action after he suffered racist abuse on Saturday night.

Maignan, who is Black, walked off after being abused by Udinese fans during a top-tier Italian league game, prompting the match to be suspended briefly during the first half. Maignan later told DAZN that he had been subjected to monkey noises.

On Sunday, he delivered a strongly-worded response.

“It’s not the player who was attacked. It’s the man, it’s the father. It’s not the first time it’s happened to me and I’m not the first person it’s happened to,” Maignan wrote in French on X, formerly known as Twitter.

“We’ve had statements, publicity campaigns, protocols and nothing has changed. Today it’s a whole system that must take responsibility.”

Maignan said there still isn’t enough being done to eradicate racial abuse.

“The authorities and the prosecutor, with everything that’s happening, if you don’t act then you will also be complicit,” he wrote.

The 28-year-old Maignan, who is France’s No. 1 goalie, said that those who witnessed the racist incidents should have called out the perpetrators, and that Udinese should have acted more firmly at the time.

“The fans in the stands, who saw everything, who heard everything but decided to stay quiet, you are complicit,” Maignan continued on X. “The club Udinese, who spoke only of interrupting the game, as if nothing had happened, you are complicit.”

Maignan had also told the referee about monkey chants earlier during the match. After being stopped, the Serie A game resumed about five minutes later.

Maignan’s France teammate Kylian Mbappé posted a message of support for Maignan.

“We are all with you,” Mbappé wrote on X. “Always the same problems and still no solution. Enough is enough.”

There have been numerous racist incidents in Italian and European soccer for years, with cases in Italy aimed at Kevin-Prince Boateng, Mario Balotelli and Romelu Lukaku among others.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino called the latest incident “totally abhorrent and completely unacceptable” and said world soccer’s governing body could initiate tougher punishments.

“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,” he wrote in a statement on X.

“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.”

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