Juventus’ game against Cagliari was marred by racist abuse against Moise Kean but comments made after the game only worsened the matter.
Moise Kean scored the second goal in Juventus 2-0 win against Cagliari over the weekend. But the story behind the goal was Kean’s celebration toward the opposition fans. Kean stood defiant as he was subjected to monkey chants throughout the game. Eventually players from both sides pulled him back to restart the game.
One would expect that after one of your own players has suffered racist chants by the fans that their own teammates and manager would offer solidarity. Well, that was not the case. In some regrettable comments, Leonardo Bonucci outright placed some of the blame on Kean himself.
Bonucci said, “I think the blame is 50-50, because Moise shouldn’t have done that and the fans should not have reacted that way. We are professionals, we have to set the example and not provoke anyone.”
To place the blame on a teammate after that is not only regrettable, it’s downright idiotic. Kean’s goal took place in the 85th minute and there were already racist chants towards him well before the goal hence the celebration.
Bonucci continued, “Kean knows that when he scores a goal, he has to focus on celebrating with his teammates. He knows he could have done something differently too.”
This is rich coming from Bonucci considering he celebrated like this when he scored against Juventus when he was with AC Milan.
https://twitter.com/ATuttoMilan1899/status/991333108178980864
To make matters worse, Juventus’ manager Max Allegri also had some thoughts on the matter.
Allegri said, “He shouldn’t have celebrated in that manner. He is a young man and he has to learn, but certain things from the crowd also shouldn’t be heard.”
Again, Allegri places some of the blame on his own player. In cases like a player suffering racist abuse, it’s not hard to simply back your player and offer your support. It’s the least the team and his teammates can do and Juventus couldn’t even do that.
Racism in soccer, especially in Italy, is nothing new. It’s happened to players like Kevin-Prince Boateng and Mario Balotelli. Earlier this season, Napoli’s Koulibaly was subjected to racist abuse in a game against Inter Milan. The referee did nothing despite protests from Napoli manager, Carlo Ancelotti. It’s happened countless times over the years with nothing changing. Italy isn’t the only place it happens but it seems like when it does, there’s always an attempt to play it down.
Juventus, being the biggest club in Italy, should have done better to stand behind Moise Kean. How does this look to other players of color on the team? That if something like that happens you, a teammate or your own manager will find a way to place some of the blame on you. The approach they took with Kean is a stark contrast to one they’ve taken with Cristiano Ronaldo.
With Ronaldo, Juventus have bent over backwards to shield him from the sexual allegations looming over his head. They’ve sent out tweets defending Ronaldo saying he couldn’t be guilty of those allegations because he is a “model professional.” They’ve even altered their preseason opting to train in Asia rather in the United States because of those allegations.
Bonucci, Allegri, and Juventus have already come under fire for their quotes and their handling of the situation. Bonucci has tried to backtrack on his comments after criticism from players like Raheem Sterling, Balotelli, and Boateng. But the damage has already been done. As long as clubs respond to racism by placing any sort of the blame on the player being subjected to racism, nothing is ever going to change.