Milan’s Serie A encounter with Udinese was overshadowed by the occurrence of fans directing racial slurs at Maignan. The match came to a halt after Maignan left the field, and his teammates joined him in protest. Despite the disruption, the game resumed, concluding with Milan emerging victorious 3-2. Musah has now disclosed that convincing Maignan to continue playing was necessary, emphasizing the need for decisive actions to eradicate racism from the sport.
In an interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport, Musah expressed his frustration, stating, “Fans always shout something against you, but enough is enough. It had already happened to me at Valencia, and Saturday as well.”
“Mike didn’t want to continue, but we remained close to him and didn’t leave him alone. These actions must have consequences. Something must be made and our reaction on the pitch was appropriate. It gave us the certainty that we are a united group.”
Maignan, advocating for stringent penalties, received backing from fellow footballers. Vinicius Jr of Real Madrid called for the imprisonment of racists, while Kylian Mbappe from PSG echoed the need for change. FIFA president Gianni Infantino went a step further, proposing an “automatic forfeit” for teams whose fans engage in racial abuse.
Surprisingly, Udinese faced relatively lenient consequences, receiving an order to play one match behind closed doors. However, the Serie A club released a statement acknowledging the identification of an individual responsible for the racial abuse directed at Maignan, imposing a lifetime ban on the offender.
Mike Maignan
Mike Maignan
This season he played in total 18 times for 1620 minutes for Serie A.
He made 53 saves and conceded 20 goals. He received 1 yellow card and 1 red card.
His team is currently 3rd in Serie A. In the last match Milan won 3-2 against Udinese. The next match in Serie A will be against Bologna.
Milan performance and stats
Milan is currently 3rd in the Serie A with 45 points.
In the last 21 games, it has won 14 times, drawn 3 times, and lost 4 times. In its last match, Milan won 2-3 against Udinese.
It has a positive goal difference after scoring 41 goals and conceding 23.
Milan will play the next match in Serie A against Bologna on Saturday 27th of January in Milano. The prediction is Milan winning the match.