Udinese vs AC Milan SUSPENDED due to ‘racist chants’ as keeper Mike Maignan storms off pitch and is consoled in tunnel

AC MILAN’S Serie A clash against Udinese was suspended after reports of vile racist chanting towards Mike Maignan.

The alleged chants came from Udinese fans, prompting AC Milan goalkeeper Maignan to report the abuse to the referee.

Reuters

Mike Maignan reported the alleged racist chanting to the referee[/caption]

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Maignan walked off the pitch with his team-mates[/caption]

Maignan was consoled by team-mates in the tunnel

Reuters

After ten minutes Maignan returned to the pitch to resume play[/caption]

Maignan then walked off the pitch with his team-mates with ref Fabio Maresca suspending the game.

The 28-year-old could be seen being consoled by team-mates in the tunnel while the match was stopped.

Play resumed after ten minutes as Maigan re-emerged.

An AC Milan statement following the chants said: “There is absolutely no place in our game for racism: we are appalled.

“We are with you, Mike.”

A statement from Serie A added: “SERIE A CONDEMNS ANY FORM OF RACISM.”

The French international has been a goalkeeper for Milan since 2021.

He has played 92 times for the Rossoneri, winning the Serie A title in 2022.

Maignan has also been named in the Serie A Team of the Season in each of his two full seasons in Italy.

Italian football has been plagued by disgusting racist chanting issues in recent years.

In November, Serie A slapped Fiorentina with a suspended one-match stand closure for racist chanting directed towards three Juventus players

Ex-Barcelona star Samuel Umtiti walked off the pitch in tears after being subjected to racist chanting from Lazio fans while at Lecce last season.

On-loan Chelsea star Romelu Lukaku was also subjected to disgraceful racist abuse during Inter Milan’s Coppa Italia draw with Juventus last April.

Juventus were ordered to partially close their stadium as a consequence of the chants.

Another match involving Juventus saw their league game against Atalanta in May stopped due to racist chanting aimed at Dusan Vlahovic.

Maignan’s side were leading 1-0 at the time of the sickening incident, through Ruben Loftus-Cheek’s goal.

However, immediately after the game resumed, they were pegged back and Udinese took the lead in the second half through Florian Thauvin.

But Luka Jovic levelled late on before Milan got a dramatic winner in injury time as Noah Okafor made it 3-2.