Blamed by his own teammate for the racist abuse aimed at him during an Italian football match, Juventus forward Moise Kean received plenty of support from rival players on Wednesday.
Kean, a 19-year-old Italian whose parents are from Ivory Coast, plays for Italy’s national team and Juventus, the most popular football club in the country. He is also black.
When Kean scored a goal against Cagliari on Tuesday, he was subjected to a torrent of racist abuse from the other team’s fans. One of his own teammates, Leonardo Bonucci, later said Kean was as much to blame as the fans hurling the abuse.
“There were racist boos after Kean’s celebration … but I think the blame is 50-50,” said Bonucci, who is also teammates with the teenager on Italy’s national team. “Kean made a mistake and the fans made a mistake.”
Manchester City winger Raheem Sterling, who is also black and has been outspoken in calling out racism, came to Kean’s defence on Wednesday.
“The blame is 50-50, Leonardo Bonucci … All you can do now is laugh,” Sterling wrote on an Instagram story along with a slew of laughing face and applause emojis.
Former Manchester City midfielder Yaya Toure, a four-time African player of the year from Ivory Coast, said Bonucci should apologise to Keane for his “totally disrespectful” claim that the teenager is partly to blame for being racially abused by Cagliari fans.
Toure also said players should walk off the field if they are subject to racist abuse.
“Yeah, let’s do this,” Toure said at a UEFA conference on diversity in football. “When something like that happens we have to send a strong message.”
Kean also got backing from Mario Balotelli – another black Italian born to African parents and who plays for the country’s national team.
“And tell Bonucci that his luck is that I wasn’t there,” Balotelli wrote in a comment on Instagram. “Instead of defending you, he does this? I’m shocked I swear. I love you brother!”
Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba, a Frenchman who used to play for Juventus, posted a picture on Instagram of Kean’s celebration and called for Italians to combat racism.
Source: Aljazeera
