Juventus’ Italian teenage forward Moise Kean suffered racist abuse from the stands during Tuesday’s Serie A match at Cagliari.
The 19-year-old held his arms aloft after scoring Juve’s second in the 2-0 win, seemingly in response to chants, and was subjected to further abuse.
Afterwards he wrote on Instagram: “The best way to respond to racism.”
Boss Massimiliano Allegri and defender Leonardo Bonucci said Kean should take some of the blame for his celebration.
“He shouldn’t have celebrated in that manner,” said Allegri. “He is a young man and he has to learn, but certain things from the crowd also shouldn’t be heard.”
Italy international Bonucci – who scored the opening goal – told Sky Sport Italia: “You celebrate goals with your team-mates. He could have done it differently.
“I think the blame is 50-50. Moise should not have done that and the Curva [fans] should not have reacted in that way.”
However, in his post-match interview Allegri called the fans directing abuse at Kean “idiots who do stupid things and ruin it for everyone else” and said the authorities “don’t really want to” tackle the problem.
“You need great intelligence to deal with these situations and should not go to provoke people. That, of course, does not mean the idiots in the crowd and the way they reacted should be justified,” he said.
“I don’t think talking about it all the time helps. I don’t think halting play helps, because not everyone in the stadium did that.
“We need to use the cameras, find those who are doing it and punish them. It’s very simple, identify them and not one-year ban or two, just give them a lifetime ban.
“We’ve got the technology, it can be done if the authorities want to. The problem is, they don’t really want to.”
Kean’s Juventus team-mate Blaise Matuidi protested to the referee after the abuse and threatened to walk off.
Matuidi complained in 2018 he suffered racist abuse at the same stadium on the island of Sardinia.
The France midfielder later posted a photograph of himself and Kean, who has Ivorian parents, on Instagram with the caption: “BIANCO + NERI (white and black) #NoToRacism.”
After Kean scored in the 85th minute, play was stopped for about three minutes and a warning was broadcast to the crowd – the first step in the three-step procedure which ultimately leads to the teams being led off the field.
Cagliari captain Luca Ceppitelli went over to the home fans behind the goal, appealing for the chants to stop,
The home side’s president, Tommaso Giulini, blamed Kean, who has scored two goals in three games for Italy, for his celebration.
“I heard mostly boos, if they started making animal noises then we were in the wrong,” he said. “What happened at the end was because of a celebration which was wrong and it would have happened with any other player.”
Earlier on Tuesday, Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin asked referees to be “brave” and stop matches if there was abuse from “loud, aggressive and primitive” people.
Manchester City winger Raheem Sterling celebrated in a similar manner to Kean after scoring for England in a 5-1 win over Montenegro in Podgorica last month, during which racist chanting was directed at several England players.
Sterling, who celebrated by putting his hands to his ears in a gesture, later called on football’s authorities to take “a proper stance” and crack down on the racist abuse.
“It was one of those where it was to let them know, you are going to need to tell me more than that we are black and what we resemble to affect us,” added Sterling.
He was supported by manager Gareth Southgate, who condemned the abuse of Sterling and his England team-mates.
Serie A leaders Juventus are now 18 points clear of second-placed Napoli and need just 10 points for an eighth straight Serie A title.