International Football Federation (FIFA) President Gianni Infantino called for technical defeats to be given to clubs whose fans disrespect players on racial grounds. He stated this on his Instagram page (its owner, Meta, is known as an extremist and is banned in Russia).
“What happened in Udine is unacceptable and disgusting. Racism and other forms of discrimination have no place in football or society. I offer my full support to the football players affected by Saturday’s events.
In addition to the three-stage process (match stoppage, match re-stoppage, match cancellation), we should impose automatic defeat on a team whose fans are racist and cause the match to be cancelled, and ban racists. Make sure these people are prosecuted from stadiums around the world,” Infantino wrote.
The match between Udinese and Milan in the 21st round of the Italian Football Championship on January 20 was postponed in the first half due to racist chants towards the visiting French goalkeeper Mike Maignan.
The match held in Udine ended with the guest team winning 3:2. The match was abandoned with a score of 1-0 in favor of Milan in the 33rd minute due to the behavior of Udinese fans, who made racist insults towards the black goalkeeper. Maignan took off his gloves and went to the stands room. The Frenchman’s teammates managed to persuade him to return to the field and play then restarted.
This season, Maignan made 25 appearances for Milan in all competitions and conceded 31 goals in these matches.
Previously Maignan explainedWhy he left the field during the match.