The date 21 of the A league was involved in a scandal due to what happened in the first half of the crossing starring Udinese y Milan in it Bluenergy Stadium. The archer of Red-black, Mike Maignanhe left the field at 34 minutes following receiving racist insults from the stands of the redoubt to being convinced by his own teammates to return to the field of play.
The Italian newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport confirmed the tenor of the words once morest the French goalkeeper on his website: “Racist chants once morest Maignan in Udine, the goalkeeper leaves the field of play”. The newspaper highlighted that the referee, Fabio Maresca, interrupted the actions for “chants” coming from the home fans’ corner following a series of warnings broadcast over the stadium’s loudspeakers.
“The first sign came in the 26th minute of the first half, when the goalkeeper called referee Maresca to explain the problem.“, the morning newspaper reported regarding the origin of the conflict between the fans and the goalkeeper. Next, he specified: “At 30′, first announcement from the stadium loudspeaker. Three announcements were made during the first half, required by federal regulations”. With the clock showing 32 minutes, Mike Maignan said enough.
About to take a goal kick, the 28-year-old footballer began to leave the field of play, while some Udinese substitutes approached him to ask for explanations. With the game already distorted, Maresca had no choice but to make a stop to restore calm to the situation.
Coach, Stefano Piolitried to contain his manager, who received the solidarity of his own colleagues, since Rafael Leao, Tijjani Reijnders y Theo Hernandez They were just some of those who gave him their absolute support. With a sad gesture, Maignan took off his gloves and left the pitch heading to the locker room. The midfielder, Yacine Adli, He ran following him to make him change his decision and, in a matter of seconds, the tunnel on the way to the locker room was filled with Milan players. Seconds later, managed to be convinced to return to the field and avoid giving pleasure to those guilty of the reprehensible verbal aggression.
In the middle of halftime, the institutional account of the Red-black on the social network X He issued his rejection of what happened: “There is absolutely no place for racism in our game: we are appalled. “We’re with you, Mike.” The official profile of the Italian championship added to the rejection: “Serie A condemns all forms of racism”.
Mike Maignan, born in French Guianacarry three seasons defending the three sticks of Milan’s goal following starting his sports career in the youth teams of PSG and Lille, a Ligue 1 club where he finally made his professional debut until leaving following the 2020-21 season. In the current season, the goalkeeper played 18 of the 21 games played by the team led by Pioli.
Furthermore, he is one of the regulars called upon by the French team to guard the three suits, to the point that he took over the starting position following the World Cup following the retirement of Hugo Lloris.
Although the result no longer mattered in the face of this reprehensible fact, the match ended with an electrifying 3-2 victory for the Red-black in the final minutes following being down on the scoreboard. Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Luka Jovic and Noah Okafor scored the goals for a team that had the distinction of having the Argentine among its substitutes. Luke Romero (did not enter), who flirted with the chance to emigrate to Boca Juniors but in the next few hours he will become a reinforcement for Almería in Spain on loan. This victory places Milan third in the table with 45 points behind Inter (51) and Juventus (49).