The Serie A game between Udinese and AC Milan was briefly suspended on Saturday due to racist chants directed toward Milan goalkeeper Mike Maignan.
Shortly after Milan had scored to take a 1-0 lead and Milan were about to take a goal kick, Maignan signaled to his teammates to stop, walked to the referee and then to the sideline.
Teammates attempted to console Maignan on the sideline but then the France international took his gloves off and walked down the tunnel leading off the field.
Maignan, who is Black, had also told the referee about monkey chants earlier during the match, prompting an announcement in the stadium asking fans to stop.
The Serie A game resumed about five minutes after the suspension when Maignan and teammates came back out. The score was 1-1 at half-time.
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Milan said: “There is absolutely no place in our game for racism: we are appalled. We are with you, Mike.”
“Lega Serie A condemns any form of racism,” the official Serie A account posted on X.
Udinese will likely be hit with a partial stadium closure for its next home match.
Information from the Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
