AC Milan goalie Mike Maignan and his teammates walked off the pitch during the first half of Saturday’s Serie A match against Udinese.
The 28-year-old France international exited the game immediately after his team took the lead, reportedly indicating to referee Fabio Maresca that he had heard racial insults from the crowd at the Stadio Friuli.
The French goalie is the first to request a match suspension due to racial abuse.
As recorded by DAZN cameras, he asked referee Maresca, “Did you hear that too?”.
After about ten minutes away from the pitch, Maignan and his teammates returned, outraged, as did the entire team that had supported him.
Many Udinese players hugged and kissed the goalkeeper, who purposefully opted to send a signal to the referee to pause the game.
His return to the pitch was heralded by whistles from the Curva, creating a strange scene.
After being reassured by referee Maresca, Maignan returned between the posts; however, following an announcement from the stadium speakers, the chanting continued, and the French goalie, along with his teammates, exited the field once more.
“We can’t play football like this,” Maignan said after the match. ”At the first goal kick, I heard monkey chants, and I didn’t say anything”.
”Second goal kick, they did it again, so I called the bench and the fourth referee’.
”There needs to be very harsh sanctions. Just talking does nothing.”
Despite Maignan’s gesture in protest of yet another incident of racism in Italy, the match resumed.
Ruben Loftus-Cheek’s goal broke the tie, and play resumed roughly seven minutes later.
Maignan was beaten three minutes later by a Lazar Samardzic shot, and the teams headed into halftime tied at 1-1 after six minutes of stoppage time.
Milan won 3-2 in the second half, with no additional incidents.
