Playing in place of the injured Cristiano Ronaldo, promising Italian teenager Moise Kean scored a fourth goal in as many games to secure a 2-0 win over Cagliari on Tuesday that took Juventus another step closer to an eighth consecutive Serie A title.
But the 19-year-old's celebrations were marred when by a section of home fans, who had reportedly been targeting him and France international Blaise Matuidi with monkey noises and abuse all game, ramped up the intensity.
The Italian forward celebrated with his hands outstretched in front of the Cagliari fans after scoring, but defender Leonardo Bonucci claimed that Kean should not have provoked the home supporters and said his teammate must share the blame.
"Kean knows that when he scores a goal, he should celebrate that with his teammates. He knows he could have done something differently too," Bonucci told Sky Sport Italia.
"There were racist jeers after the goal, Blaise heard it and was angered. I think the blame is 50-50, because Moise shouldn't have done that and the Curva (Cagliari fans) should not have reacted that way.
"We are professionals, we have to set the example and not provoke anyone."
Bonucci, who scored the first goal, pushed Kean back towards the center circle while fans insulted and threw water bottles at the striker as Cagliari players intervened to calm them down.
The comments drew censure from many journalists, players and anti-racism campaigners, including Troy Townsend, a prominent voice in British anti-racism in football campaign group Kick It Out, and former Premier League defender Curtis Davies, who tweeted: "What chance have you got when your team mate doesn’t back you, and actually blames you for it happening."
Kean himself later took to Instagram to post a picture of himself celebrating with the caption: "The best way to respond to racism #notoracism".
Juve coach Massimiliano Allegri said Kean should not have celebrated in the manner he did but took aim at the home fans.
"He is a young man and he has to learn, but certain things from the crowd also shouldn't be heard," Allegri said. "In life and at the stadium you have imbeciles and normal people. These people should be identified with cameras and ousted from stadiums for life. The problem is that no one wants to do this."
Italian football has long had issues with racism in the stands, with Azzuri star Mario Balotelli and Ghanaian midfielder Sulley Muntari among the black players to have suffered.
The latest episode of abuse came on the day that UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin said he was "ashamed" by the recent outbreak of racist abuse, including at England's match in Montenegro last month, and vowed to ask referees to stop matches in the future if racist chanting breaks out.
But Cagliari president Tommaso Giulini also opted to blame Kean for stirring up tensions".
"If (Juve forward Federico) Bernardeschi had done what Kean did, the reaction would have been the same," said Giulini.
"Nobody had heard anything up to that point. Kean made a mistake, he's 19, that's understandable," he added, saying he "mostly heard whistles".
"There is a drift towards self-righteousness that I don't like, this club has always been exemplary and has always denounced racist behaviour."
Cagliari could be handed a fine or forced to close part of their stadium if the allegations are proved true.
AFP
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