Udinese said Monday that the fans
responsible for the monkey chants directed at AC Milan keeper
Mike Maignan during Saturday's Serie A match between the teams
would be banned for life.
"The possible Daspo stadium ban imposed by the judicial
authorities has a limited duration, but we will work to exclude
these racists from the stadium for life," said Udinese General
Manager Franco Collavino.
"We are convinced that no more than two or three people were to
blame.
"There was no (choral) chanting: both the referee and the
federal prosecutor's office confirmed this to us.
"In any case, the number doesn't matter: even if it was only
one, it would still be very serious".
On Sunday Maignan accused Udinese of being "accomplices" to
racism and said the authorities would be guilty of the same
charge if they do not take a stand over what happened.
"The system has to take responsibility," the Frenchman said in a
social-media post.
"It's easy for the people behind these acts to act in a group,
in the anonymity of the stands.
"The spectators who were in the stands and saw everything, heard
everything, but decided to keep quiet, you are accomplices;
Udinese, who just talked about interrupting the match as if
nothing was going on, you are accomplices; the authorities and
the prosecutors, with all that's happening, if they don't do
anything, they will be accomplices too."
In a statement on Sunday, Udinese had expressed support for
Maignan and condemned what had happened to him.
"Udinese Calcio deeply regrets and condemns every act of racism
and violence," the club said.
"We reaffirm our aversion to any form of discrimination and
express our profound solidarity with the AC Milan player Mike
Maignan in light of Saturday's deplorable incident at our
stadium.
"Udinese will collaborate with all investigating authorities to
ensure immediate clarification of the incident, with the aim of
taking any necessary measures to punish those responsible".
Deputy Premier and Transport Minister Matteo Salvini said the
abuse directed at Maignan was "shameful" while stressing that it
would be wrong to blame a club or an entire city.
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