The Pescara midfielder Sulley Muntari has been banned for one match after walking off the pitch at Cagliari on Sunday following racist abuse from the home crowd. Muntari was booked for complaining to the referee about the abuse, before walking off the pitch and earning a second yellow card.
Serie A’s disciplinary committee added that no action would be taken against Cagliari over the incident. The committee described the chanting as deplorable but claimed that “an approximate number of only 10” individuals were involved, not enough to warrant a punishment against the club under Serie A rules.
Muntari said he suffered abuse throughout his side’s 1-0 defeat at Cagliari but was booked for dissent when he asked referee Daniele Minelli to stop the game in the 90th minute, and left the field in stoppage time.
“[The referee] told me I should not talk to the crowd,” Muntari said after the game. I asked him if he had heard the insults. I insisted that he must have the courage to stop the game,” he added.
“The referee should not just stay on the field and blow the whistle, he must do everything. He should be aware of these things and set an example.”
Earlier, the world players’ union Fifpro had called on Serie A to rescind Muntari’s first yellow card. “We urge Italian authorities to hear Muntari’s version of events, investigate why the situation was mismanaged, and take firm action to ensure this never happens again,” it said in a statement.
“Muntari was well within his rights to approach the referee, as the first point of reference, to make his grievances known and seek a solution … Professional footballers should expect to be adequately protected by the relevant authorities,” the statement concluded. The committee instead confirmed Muntari’s automatic one-match ban, saying his second yellow card was for “abandoning the pitch without the referee’s permission”.
Lazio and Internazionale were found guilty of racist behaviour by their fans during other games played last weekend, and both were warned they would face partial stadium closures if there was a repeat.
The committee said that the Napoli defender Kalidou Koulibaly was the target of racist chanting by Inter fans during his side’s 1-0 win at the San Siro, while Lazio supporters targeted the Roma defender Antonio Rüdiger during the Rome derby.
It added that around 80% of the 7,000 Inter fans in one of the upper tier sections of the San Siro aimed insults at Senegal defender Koulibaly, and a similar number of fans in one section of Lazio’s Curva Nord directed abuse towards Rüdiger. In both cases, the tribunal ordered the sectors to be closed for one game if there was a repeat incident within the next year.
Join GhanaStar.com to receive daily email alerts of breaking news in Ghana. GhanaStar.com is your source for all Ghana News. Get the latest Ghana news, breaking news, sports, politics, entertainment and more about Ghana, Africa and beyond.
