Striker of Italian Serie A club Milan and the Portuguese national team Rafael Leao commented on the situation around his teammate, goalkeeper of Rossoneri Mike Maignan in the match of the 21st round of the championship with Udinese.
Milan defeated the hosts 3-2 in Udine on January 21. The match was interrupted in the middle of the first half because of the insulting shouts of Udinese fans at the 28-year-old Maignan. The goalkeeper went to the locker room after complaining to the referee crew, unwilling to return to the pitch, but managed to continue the meeting after persuasion from his teammates.
Leao said on Che Tempo Che Fa, as quoted by Sport Mediaset:
He [Maignan] was very nervous, he didn't want to play, it wasn't the first time a situation like that had arisen. We all backed him. I'm personally sorry for every black player. We must fight it together on and off the pitch.
Earlier, the president of the International Football Federation (FIFA) Gianni Infantino proposed to declare the game lost by the teams whose fans are racist.
