The fall-out after the Mike Maignan racism incident continues as Udinese president Gianpaolo Pozzo has made some bold claims regarding the media coverage that has followed.
The game between Udinese and Milan earlier in the month was stopped because Maignan was showered with racist abuse from ‘fans’ behind the goal, and it continued despite the stoppage and repeated warnings.
The Rossoneri showed their closeness to their goalkeeper with media silence the day after the game, while they also displayed a powerful message in the 16th minute – Maignan’s shirt number – of the recent home game against Bologna.
When he returns to Udine, Maignan will not be an honorary citizen as seemed possible in the aftermath of the game because the Council’s notion did not receive a sufficient majority.
Now, the defiance has continued. Adverts were taken out in the national and local newspapers stating that ‘racism does not belong to us’, referring to Friulian people, and while it was anonymous some more information has now come out.
The purchaser was Udinese president Gianpaolo Pozzo, who revealed it to the newspaper Messaggero Veneto. His comments were relayed by MilanNews.
“Our territory – he explained to the newspaper on newsstands today – is the victim of an injustice. Our fans have always stood out for its correct behaviour,” he said.
“It is no coincidence that we received two discipline cups while after what happened in the match against Milan was almost a media persecution which I consider certainly disproportionate compared to the facts which involved only 5 people out of 25 thousand who, among other things, didn’t notice anything.
“For this reason we decided to send a clear message against racism but we didn’t want only Udinese to speak and therefore we decided to promote an anonymous campaign, so that all Friulians could identify themselves.”
“compared to the facts which involved only 5 people out of 25 thousand who, among other things, didn’t notice anything.”
Didn’t notice anything or just didn’t care – or were to scared to get involved. How’s that ANY excuse for what happened? Oh yeah, it’s a witch hunt! Udinese is the victim here, right?
Not a good look for Udinese
Media Persecution? What happened is a fact. What happened needs to be addressed. It was on video with full audio for everyone to see and hear, and only an ignorant person would deny that something happened. And I don’t think it was just 5 out of 25,000.