Shocking, AC Milan keeper leads team off the pitch after abuse

While football is considered the “beautiful game” it’s not always pretty. Football has proven in the past that it has a darkness within it that they try to hide but the darkness comes out when it wants to. And over the last few years, football’s darkness has become much more noticeable. In Italy, that darkness has become more and more evident with the multiple racial incidents between fans and players.

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We have seen several players in Italy complain about fans racial abuse towards them as Lukaku and Koulibaly have been two of the biggest advocates for change in the country and harsher punishments inflicted on clubs. Yet no change has been made which has led to the continuation of such incidents. And they are not only limited in Italy, but they also happen across Europe in other leagues as well.

This past season, the league had one of its most controversial incidents with Lukaku at the heart of it. The Belgian international stepped up to take a pen to seal a win for Inter and he slotted it with ease and went to celebrate it in a fashion which riled up Juventus fans and the referee decided to send him off which put the league in a bad light. A decision that did not need to be made and led to the support of Lukaku around the world while also leading to shame on Serie A.

And today the league had another incident as Mike Maignan would take his teammates and walk off the pitch during the first half after continuous abuse. The goalkeeper would walk down the tunnel but returned after five minutes to continue the match. Maignan had also warned the referee of previous chants earlier in the first half as well.

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What was the response like from club and league

AC Milan put out a message showcasing their solidarity towards the keeper, and the official Serie A account on twitter would follow by condemning any form of racism. It is now expected that Udinese will be hit with a partial crowd ban in their next home game, but a bigger statement will need to be made by the league.