Raheem Sterling has hit out at Leonardo Bonucci’s comments that the racist abuse suffered by Moise Kean was partially his own fault by describing them on social media as “laughable”. Bonucci suggested Juventus team-mate Kean was ’50-50′ to blame for the racist abuse during the game at Cagliari, and the Manchester City forward responded in an Instagram post with pictures of laughing faces with the comment: ‘All you can do now is laugh.’ Also writing on Instagram, Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba said: “I support every fight against racism, we’re all equal.” Pogba added in Italian: “Good Italians wake up, you can’t let a small racist group speak for you. #equalgame #respect”. Kean was racially abused by home fans as the Serie A leaders won 2-0 at Cagliari, but the 19-year-old took a stance of defiance after scoring a late second goal. The Italy international was abused all night by sections of the home support, with monkey chants aimed at him, but had the final say by netting Juve’s second goal with five minutes left. The teenager stood at the post, his arms aloft in response to the chants.
And Bonucci claimed after the match that Kean should not have provoked the home fans. He said: “There were racist jeers after the goal, Blaise [Matuidi] heard it and was angered. I think the blame is 50-50, because Moise shouldn’t have celebrated like that, and the Curva should not have reacted that way.” Juve boss Massimiliano Allegri also felt that the teenager should not have responded to the racist chants – but called for the “idiots” responsible to be handed lifetime bans.
On Wednesday, Manchester United’s Paul Pogba said in relation to the incident: ‘I support every fight against racism, we’re all equal.’
Former United winger Memphis Depay also posted a photo of Kean and said: ‘#notoracism. Keep shining YoungKing.’
Grime artist Stormzy has also weighed in with some choice words for the Juventus defender, calling him a ‘p****’.
Crystal Palace striker Christian Benteke said: ‘What happened to Moise Kean last night is inexcusable. ‘Two incidents recently have highlighted even more that there is still a shocking issue within our beautiful game. I have nothing but respect for what Moise and Raheem did and how they handled the matter. #SayNoToRacism.’
Following the Serie A match, Matuidi defended Kean, posting on Twitter ‘White + Black #NoToRacism’.
Kean called it ‘the best way to respond to racism’ when he posted on Instagram.
‘I won’t justify what happened, as usual there were idiots and there were normal people,’ coach Massimiliano Allegri added. ‘We need to find them and kick them out of the stadium … there are ways to do that, if they want to they can do it. ‘He shouldn’t have celebrated in that manner. He is a young man and he has to learn, but certain things from the crowd also shouldn’t be heard.’
Cagliari president Tommaso Giulini denied the abuse received by Kean was racist. ‘If Bernardeschi had celebrated like that, he would’ve been treated exactly the same way by our fans. If Dybala had the same drama queen antics after the goal that Matuidi did, he would’ve been treated exactly the same way’, he said. ‘I don’t want people to start being self-righteous about it, because I heard that already, whereas Juventus players came to me afterwards and confessed Kean was wrong to celebrate that way. ‘We cannot go around calling the entire Cagliari crowd offensive things. If there were racist jeers, then our fans got it wrong, but it happened because of the celebration and would’ve happened even if the goalscorer had a different colour of skin.’ 
Photo Credit: Getty
