UDINESE TO PLAY BEHIND CLOSED DOORS AFTER RACIST ABUSE TOWARDS AC MILAN GOALKEEPER

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Udinese have been ordered to play one match behind closed doors after AC Milan goalkeeper Mike Maignan was racially abused during a Serie A match on Saturday.

The sanction has been imposed by the league’s sports judge, Gerardo Mastrandrea.

The judgement states the one-match stadium closure was the minimum sanction that could have been imposed, and was chosen to reflect Udinese’s active stance and willingness right from the start to identify those responsible.

A man suspected of shouting racist abuse at Maignan has been banned from every football stadium in Italy for five years.

In addition to the nationwide sanction imposed by the Udine Public Prosecutor’s office, Udinese has banned him from its Bluenergy Stadium for life.

Police are looking at CCTV and social media to try to identify any others who may have been involved.

Maignan and his AC Milan team-mates walked off the pitch after the chanting was heard during the match, with play being suspended for about 10 minutes.

Maignan told referee Fabio Maresca about alleged monkey chants earlier in the game, prompting an announcement in the stadium asking fans to stop.

“They made monkey noises and it’s not the first time it’s happened to me,” Maignan told DAZN.

“I was upset to have to go into the changing room like that but I had everyone’s support.

“We talked and then we made the decision to go back out onto the field and make the appropriate response – to win this game. I really didn’t want to play anymore. But we’re a family and I couldn’t leave my team-mates like that.”

Maignan was also subjected to racist chants in a game at Cagliari two seasons ago.

There have been numerous racist incidents in Italian and European soccer for years, with cases in Italy aimed at Kevin-Prince Boateng, Mario Balotelli and Romelu Lukaku among others.

“There is absolutely no place in our game for racism: we are appalled,” Milan said on X, formerly Twitter. “We are with you, Mike.”