On Moise Kean and racism

Innumerable times through history, black athletes have suffered attacks from multiple fronts. The press, fans, referees, team owners, commissioners/presidents and even teammates have questioned, insulted and oppressed them because of their skin color.

Football usually falls for the player that feels the badge, that fights for every ball, and makes everyone scream and stand up from their seat. The origin and nationality don’t matter because of the heterogeneity of the sport. It is the world’s game, and everyone belongs to it. However, there’s a small sample who can’t understand that.

Italy has a radical present against black players. During the current season, several fan groups have been called out by Napoli center back Kalidou Koulibaly. Months ago, Koulibaly stated that he was open to leaving the club if the racist hostility was not solved.  Napoli manager Carlo Ancelotti talked about it publicly after an away match against Inter.

“(Koulibaly) was affected by racism, and that is very bad,” he said. “We are doing a campaign on this, and everybody is involved: the federation, the referees. We would like to know how many times we will have to complain before a match will be halted. And the next time, if they won’t answer us, then we will stop the match ourselves.”

However, Cagliari followers demonstrated that racism is a problem that needs to be addressed vehemently by Serie A. During the match against Juventus, Cagliari supporters harassed and insulted Italian youngster Moises Kean during the whole game.

Kean, who’s 19 years old and the son of African immigrants who came from Ivory Coast, scored for Juventus in the last five minutes of the match. Sick of the humiliation, he stood up in front of his detractors with a firm gesture and a cold look, opening his arms and simulating a statue.

The reaction to Kean’s celebration was extremely hostile; even the referee ordered the local sound of the stadium to communicate to the attendees to stop the mocking and mimicking ape noises that were meant to offend the Italian youngster.

A year ago, Juventus midfielder Blaise Matuidi denounced continued racially charged chants in the same stadium. It wasn’t an isolated event. But the reaction of people like Massimiliano Allegri saying Kean “shouldn’t have celebrated in that manner,” or Leonardo Bonucci stating that “the blame is 50-50” would make you believe that Kean was the provocateur, that his celebration was the only motive for a deserved exhibit of hate.

Bonucci and Allegri forgot that Kean was called a monkey for 85 minutes; they forgot that last season Matuidi complained about the same display of hate, in the same stadium, with the same people.

Black footballers shouldn’t act apologetic. Many of them have been stereotyped, like when the press described Raheem Sterling as “glamorous.” Many of them have been questioned, the same way Toni Kroos doubted that the best German player of the moment, Leroy Sane, believing that he didn’t want to win matches. Others have been insulted and discriminated against not only by slurs, but also by actions. For example, when Dani Alves picked up and ate a banana that someone threw at him.

Those players took the fight. They exposed the problem; they embarrassed the aggressors.

Many white players have insulted fans, and there are no repercussions from the club or the league. In the last derby between Atletico and Real Madrid, Gareth Bale used his arms as a disrespectful sign to Atletico’s crowd. But when a future star stands up in front of a crowd full of bigotry, the discriminatory response is half of his fault.

The responses of Allegri, Bonucci and Cagliari were out of touch. All of them ignored the central issue of the conversation, the hate against someone with different skin color. It wasn’t about a celebration or Kean’s “lack of respect” to the Cagliari fans. It has always been about the insolence directed at the player. It’s about addressing and eradicating hate, not blaming the victim.

Follow Luis on Twitter: @LFulloa.

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