Racism: solidarity grows for Mike Maignan in wake of disturbing incident at Udinese

AC Milan dug deep for their 3-2 comeback victory over Udinese at the Stadio Friuli yesterday, but Mike Maignan’s racism experience was the game’s highlight.

Right after Milan’s Ruben Loftus Cheek grabbed the first goal of the game, the game was halted for five minutes when the Rossoneri walked off in solidarity with Mike Maignan, who was subjected to racist abuse from Udinese fans.

Mike Maignan and his AC Milan team-mates walked off the pitch briefly following abuse directed at the goalkeeper from the stands.

We all are with you, Mike! ❤️ pic.twitter.com/ER2PnXs7pt

— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) January 20, 2024

Subsequent events

Afterwards, Udinese took the lead, but Stefano Pioli’s men showed character to score two late goals and secure all maximum points, but the win was inevitably marred by the shameful act of some of Udinese fans.

Speaking to Sky Sport Italia after the match, Maignan said: “What happened in the first half is that at the first goal kick, I heard monkey noises, I said nothing. The second time I went to get the ball, I heard it again. I told the fourth official and my bench what happened.”

The France international added: “I said we cannot play football like this. It is not the first time it has happened this way. We have to say that what they are doing is wrong. It is not the whole crowd, most fans want to cheer on their team and jeer you, that’s normal, but not this.

“We have a very strong group, we are a family and everyone came over to support me. We came back out wanting to work even harder to win, because the best response is to win.”

Reactions & support

Racism has been a pandemic plaguing the beautiful game for a long time; with the professionals having no one but themselves to count on most of the time. Yesterday was no different, as there’s been an outpour of support for Mike Maignan from his colleagues, notably which are Kylian Mbappe and Pioli.

Mbappe took his official X(formerly Twitter) account to support his national teammate and decry the persistence of racism.

Tu es très loin d’être seul Mike Maignan.
On est tous avec toi.
Toujours les mêmes problèmes et toujours AUCUNE solution.
Trop c’est trop !!!!!!!!!!!!

NON AU RACISME. ⛔️✊🏽 pic.twitter.com/uqlCLMr00x

— Kylian Mbappé (@KMbappe) January 20, 2024

“You’re very far from being alone, Mike Maignan. We are all with you.

“Still the same problem and still NO solution. Enough is enough!

“NO TO RACISM.”

Also reacting to this, Pioli told Sky Sport Italia: “Clearly, he was disappointed. I am proud to coach someone like Mike, who is so respectful, fair and proud. We’ve had enough of hearing certain things in the stadium – ignorant people have to stay home.”

Udinese’s commitment to punishing the culprit

The club’s director Federico Balzaretti has promptly and strongly condemned the incident, while also pledging to help identify and prosecute the racist fans

He said: “This is a club that has worked for over 30 years to be the most ethnically diverse possible, the city is an example of integration, so clearly if we find the person responsible, we will take action.

“We do not tolerate any form of racism, even if it was a single person. The FIGC prosecutor will investigate and that is still being studied, but I wish to underline that the club has never seen these problems before.”