A man who racially harassed France goalkeeper Mike Maignan will face a lifelong ban from Udinese, the Serie A team said on Monday.
During Saturday's 3-2 loss to AC Milan, Maignan was taunted repeatedly from behind the goal he was defending, causing the match to be stopped for five minutes in the first half.
"Udinese Calcio has identified the first individual responsible for discriminatory behaviour towards AC Milan player Mike Maignan," said the club in a statement
"This person will face a lifetime ban from attending any Udinese Calcio matches. This ban is effective immediately."
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"We believe that such strong measures are necessary to send a clear message that racism has no place in football or society... we will continue to work tirelessly in order to identify and punish other individuals who were involved in this incident."
According to reports by Italian media earlier on Monday, the 46-year-old man from the northeastern Italian town of Udine is thought to be the same man in a video that went viral on social media.
In that footage, after play had resumed and Lazar Samardzic had scored Udinese's first-half equalizer, someone off camera can be heard repeatedly yelling the same racist epithet at Maignan.
On Sunday, Maignan challenged Italy's football authorities, stating, "If you do nothing, you will also be complicit."
Maignan was the target of racist taunts from Juventus supporters in September 2021, so this was not the first time he had experienced such abuse in Italy.
Gianni Infantino, the president of FIFA, demanded "automatic forfeits" for teams whose supporters hurl "abhorrent" abuse and worldwide stadium bans for spectators.
