Juventus back Weston McKennie amid racial abuse directed towards the midfielder from Parma fans after match.
Juventus condemn racist abuse of their US midfielder Weston McKennie.
After Juventus defeated Parma 2-0 at home in Serie A to start the season, the Italian team reported on Sunday that USA midfielder Weston McKennie had been the target of racial taunts.
Juventus said on social media that when McKennie was warming up with teammates, he was the focus of “discriminatory racist remarks by individuals in the away section.”
“Juventus strongly condemns this incident and any form of racism, and will ensure full cooperation with the sporting justice authorities to identify those responsible,” Juventus said in the statement.
In the game in Turin, where Canada striker Jonathan David scored in his Serie A debut for Juventus, McKennie came on as a late substitution.
In 2020, McKennie joined Juventus. Following racist and discriminatory shouts thrown at McKennie and other Juventus players by supporters, Fiorentina received a suspended partial stadium ban in 2023.
The incident on Sunday is the most recent in a string of accusations of racism in European sports.
Last week, Gianni Infantino, the president of FIFA, called two alleged instances of racist abuse that disrupted German Cup matches “unacceptable.”
Infantino’s remarks followed claims that a Kaiserslautern replacement was racially insulted during a game’s warm-up at RSV Eintracht and that Schalke’s Christopher Antwi-Adjei was the target of racist taunts during a cup match against Lokomotive Leipzig.
On suspicion of racially insulting Bournemouth forward Antoine Semenyo during a Premier League match on August 16, UK police detained a guy. After Semenyo, who is Black, told the referee that he had been subjected to racial abuse by a fan during the first half of the game at Anfield, the man was taken into custody on suspicion of a racially aggravated public order offence.