A football game that was held last Thursday in Busto Arsizio had to be stopped. The game involved the teams Milan and Pro Patria and it was cut off in less than 30 minutes because the crowd started harassing and chanting racist remarks against the player Kevin-Prince Boateng, who belongs to the Milan team. The player didn’t take it well and he reacted negatively by kicking the ball to the crowd.
A representative from the other team, Dario Alberto Polverini, pleaded with Boateng to stay but apparently Boateng didn’t heed him as he proceeded to walk off the pitch along with his team members. Among those who walked out was Massimo Ambrosini, who is the captain of the team. Boateng wasn’t the only one targeted as other players namely Urby Emanuelson, M’Baye Niang and Sulley Muntari were also verbally abused by the crowd.
Boateng sounded off in Twitter saying that he was disappointed that such a thing happened. Massimilano Allegri, who was the coach of Team Milan, told the paper, Gazetta dello Sport that he was also disappointed at what happened. However, he respected his black players and considered walking out of the game as the right thing to do.
He later apologised for his team’s actions but he said that this was the only way for them to send a clear message against racism but he did, however, promise that they would have another try at the game. Ambrosini mentioned to the paper that from the moment the game started, he was very disappointed and annoyed with the crowd.
His intention was to give a clear message that they just couldn’t proceed with such a negative atmosphere. There were many who lauded Boateng’s actions particularly the anti-racist organisations. One such prominent anti-racist organisation, FARE, through their executive director, Piara Powar, called for further action from the Italian Football Association regarding the incident.