Udinese reiterates its commitment to the fight against racism. The general director of the Friulian club, Franco Collavino, returned on Saturday evening to the affair which shook European football, after a new episode of racism involving French goalkeeper Mike Maignan. The Italian leader promises severe sanctions: “During the match against AC Milan, there were no racist chants, the referee and the federal prosecutor confirmed this to us. We are convinced that it is no more than two or three people, but the number does not matter. If there’s only one, it’s serious. The possible investigation by the judicial authorities has a limited duration, on the contrary we will work to exclude these racists from the stadium for life. Where there are more than 300 cameras, we also have sound and in the coming hours, we plan to use these means on the part of the bend concerned..
As a reminder, the former PSG and LOSC goalkeeper decided to leave after being the victim of racist remarks. The match was therefore interrupted by the match referee before resuming a few minutes later. The club’s general director was keen to recall the historical values on which Udinese was based: “We have always been multiracial and multiethnic. After the Bosman ruling, Udinese was characterized by having a team of footballers of different nationalities and we were also criticized for that. We are an example of inclusion and tolerance, even the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region has demonstrated these principles”Collavino then concluded.
