AC Milan friendly called off after racist chanting

Absurdistan

Nice move by prince Kev though I doubt it will change much.

A friendly between AC Milan and Italian lower division club Pro Patria was suspended after players walked off because of racist chants.
The Italian Football Federation (FIGC) has announced an immediate inquiry.
Milan's Kevin-Prince Boateng picked up the ball 25 minutes into the first half and kicked it into the crowd.
Ghana international Boateng then removed his shirt and was followed from Pro Patria's home pitch by both sets of players and officials.
There had been appeals for the abuse to stop from the public address announcer.
“
I can only salute Milan's decision to leave the pitch. Also noted that the majority of the fans were completely supportive of the players
”
said Vincent Kompany Manchester City captain
Former Portsmouth and Tottenham Hotspur player Boateng later tweeted: "Shame that these things still happen... #StopRacismforever."
FIGC president Giancarlo Abete branded the incident "unspeakable and intolerable".
In a statement on the FIGC website, Abete added: "We must react with force and without silence to isolate the few criminals that transformed a friendly match into an uproar that offends all of Italian football."
On his way from the pitch, Boateng applauded sections of the crowd, who then reacted angrily towards the corner of the ground from which the chants came.
It was quickly established that play would not restart and Milan's official website said other black players in their side - M'Baye Niang, Urby Emanuelson and Sulley Muntari - suffered abuse.
Milan coach Massimiliano Allegri told reporters: "We are disappointed and saddened by what has happened.
"Milan play for the right to respect all players. We need to stop these uncivilised gestures.
"We are sorry for all the other fans who came here for a beautiful day of sport. We promise to return, and we are sorry for the club and players of Pro Patria, but we could not make any other decision.
"I hope it can be an important signal."
Milan's organising director Umberto Gandini told BBC Sport: "It is so sad but we had to give a strong signal. Very proud of all Milan players for their decision."
Fellow players, including Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany, threw their support behind Boateng and his team-mates.
Kompany said: "I can only salute Milan's decision to leave the pitch. Also noted that the majority of the fans were completely supportive of the players."
However not all players believe Boateng took the correct action. Former Milan star Clarence Seedorf told BBC Radio 5 live: "I don't feel it's such a fabulous thing. These people will feel empowered now. They should just be identified and kicked out of the stadium."
Piara Powar, executive director of Football Against Racism in Europe (FARE), called for the FIGC to take strong action.
"We salute Kevin-Prince Boateng for his actions and his team-mates for their support," said Powar.
"This is the not the first time a player has walked off in Italy - if the situation continues it may not be the last.
"Italy, as much as any country in Europe, has a serious problem of racism to deal with. Football infrastructure is in need of renewal and at serious odds with the changing nature of Italian society.
"We look forward to strong action by the FIGC."
In June, Uefa president Michel Platini said that any players who walked off the pitch at Euro 2012 because of racist abuse would be booked.

Folev the red

Fair play, its easier to do that against lower opposition and in much much less high profile fixtures like a friendly though.
I wonder if he would've done the same thing, with the same abuse, in the champions league. That would be a real statement.

MattD

Suspending the game was more to do with Milan walking off than the racism. Players are more proactive about it than the ref..

Kap10

Platini v Boateng says it all. There is no need for players to walk off if Eufa and FIFA took a strong stand at all levels.

AS For Paddy Power Pants 100.000 euros v Serbia U21's 80,000 euro's* says it all.


* Following the backlash overr this ruling EuFA have appealed against the punishment as too lenient, but it should not take public disquiet for them to realise that they were wrong and any change in the verdict does not support their stance on racism so much as their stance on bad publicity.

nth_london_addick

Platini said players will be booked if they walk off the pitch due to racism



As much of a W****r as his new father sepp


It makes you really wonder how these pricks can run our sport and why no one challenges their decision making publicly


If that ever happened I would love to see all players rug use to play in one champions league game or uefa cup match

Walk on the pitch then all walk off and not come back on

Would kill sepp and platini

Goonerhater

So what happens if a team is loosing and their fans want to get the game stopped ? they sing some shit and players walk off ? or a team are loosing and they walk off saying they herd some shit song being chanted ?

re the above incident there was no doubt something was going on as you could see by the reaction of the fans and players.

o and of course it was nice to se St Rio (of The Bandwagon) Ferdinand gobbing off about it nano seconds after it happened.

Bournemouth Addick

It's been coming hasn't it? We've had an increasing number of racist incidents in the game over the last couple of years where the authorities have failed to act with any sort of deterent.

Not surprising a player has had enough of putting up with it and takes matters into their own hands. Wouldn't we do the same if our working environment was similar?

Jarman

Stay classy Italy.

redman

Don't think is the way it should be dealt with. It can lead to all sorts of scenarios. Players walking off when losing (but not winning). What about the majority of fans who have paid good money and players walk off because of a small minority.
Finally at Millwall we are losing 1 0 with a few minutes to go is it OK to walk off due to the racist noises? Sounds a recipe for trouble and bloodshed.
The authorities must deal with this - it's not rocket science with so much CCTV