Juventus captain Leonardo Bonucci has backtracked from his statement where he partly blamed young teammate Moise Kean for racist insults hurled at him in a Serie A game at Cagliari after receiving a lot of flak from several black footballers and the football community.
He responded to the severe criticism after more than 24 hours, claiming that his earlier statement had been misunderstood and that he was firmly against “racism and discrimination”.
“Yesterday (Tuesday), I was interviewed right at the end of the game, and my words have been clearly misunderstood, probably because I was too hasty in the way I expressed my thoughts.”
Before his clarification, the centre-back had posted a couple of pictures on Wednesday from the match between Cagliari and Juventus, captioning it, “Happy to have celebrated with a goal, the 250th game in Serie A with the shirt of Juve, the race continues!”
On Tuesday, Cagliari fans had racially abusing Kean and his teammate Blaise Matuidi and when Kean scored in the 85th minute, he stood in front of the home fans with his hands spread as a response to their abuse.
However, Bonucci had said after the game that Kean should not have provoked the home supporters and claimed he was partly to blame.
“I think the blame is 50-50, because Moise shouldn't have done that and the Curva (Cagliari fans) should not have reacted that way,” said Bonucci.
???? pic.twitter.com/xr3jf18Zfx— Raheem Sterling (@sterling7) April 3, 2019
Kean also received backing from Mario Balotelli, an Italian player born to African parents.
“…tell Bonucci that his luck is that I wasn’t there,” Balotelli wrote on Instagram commenting on Kean’s post. “Instead of defending you, he does this? I'm shocked I swear. I love you brother!”
Former Manchester City and Barcelona midfielder Yaya Toure has said that Leonardo Bonucci's comments are a disgrace and it is the worst case scenario you can have in football.
"It was unbelievable. A team-mate, a manager saying: 'You shouldn't have done that' to one of your own players. Your team-mate attacking you, saying things like that, is just unbelievable. I can't imagine how hurt he was when he saw that."
@bonucci_leo19 Come capitano della Juventus sono deluso nella tua reazione, il ragazzo può gioire come vuole. Il suo ruolo ed essenziale per la sua squadra e gioca con tanto orgoglio per il suo paese Italia. Dev’essere rispettato per questo.We Will not be quiet! #SayNoToRacism— Memphis (@Memphis) April 3, 2019
It’s a shame we still talk about racism in 2019! But we have to speak up! We all equal! ✊???? #NoToRacism pic.twitter.com/ZxUGozw4nX— Memphis (@Memphis) April 3, 2019
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