Four individuals who racially abused AC Milan goalkeeper Mike Maignan during the weekend Serie A match at Udinese have been given five-year stadium bans by Italian police.
AC Milan players briefly left the pitch on January 20th after alerting referee Fabio Maresca to the abuse being directed at the Frenchman.
On Wednesday, the office of Udine police commissioner Alfredo D’Agostino announced that four people had been identified using security cameras from the stadium.
“There are four people, three men and one woman, aged between 32 and 45, against whom the police commissioner of Udine has issued banning orders for the duration of five years,” a statement said.
Udine, la #PoliziadiStato ha individuato e sottoposto a Daspo 4 persone ritenute autrici dei gravi insulti rivolti al portiere del Milan, Maignan, durante la partita di serie A Udinese-Milan svoltasi sabato #20gennaiohttps://t.co/Hdzdd2c7rO#essercisempre #24gennaio pic.twitter.com/6mBB1UldSG
Advertisement— Polizia di Stato (@poliziadistato) January 24, 2024
A five-year ban is the maximum penalty that can be handed to first-time offenders for racist abuse at football matches in Italy.
Following the police statement, Udinese announced the four had all been banned for life from the Bluenergy Stadium, having already announced a life ban for another fan on Monday.
“Udinese Calcio can confirm that it has identified four further individuals relating to the incident of discrimination towards AC Milan player Mike Maignan,” a statement said.
“These individuals will also be banned from the Bluenergy Stadium for life.
“As has been the case from the very beginning, the club has continued its work alongside the police, reaffirming its absolute determination to punish the culprits as evidence of its concrete commitment against any form of discrimination.”
Official Statement: 4 more individuals banned from the stadium
👉https://t.co/w6j6TGLkzO pic.twitter.com/G7F0kTfaag— Udinese Calcio (@Udinese_1896) January 24, 2024
On Tuesday, the club were ordered to play one match behind closed doors by Serie A’s sports judge, Gerardo Mastrandrea.
That judgement said the one-match stadium closure was the minimum sanction which could have been imposed, and was chosen to reflect Udinese’s active stance and willingness right from the start to identify those responsible.
Speaking after the game, which restarted after a delay of around 10 minutes, Maignan told Milan TV: “I heard them making monkey noises.
“After it happened a second time, I went to the dugout to inform them of what had happened behind the goal.
“This shouldn’t exist in the world of football, but unfortunately for many years this is a recurrence. We all have to react, we must do something because you can’t play like this.”
