Giulini: ‘Self-righteous about Kean’

Cagliari President Tommaso Giulini claims Moise Kean abuse was not racist, as “if Federico Bernardeschi had celebrated like that, he would’ve been treated exactly the same way.”

The 2-0 home defeat to Juventus was overshadowed by ugly scenes after Kean’s goal at the 85th minute, as he reacted to jeers that had been aimed in his direction throughout the match by celebrating with arms outstretched in front of the ultras.

Cagliari President Tommaso Giulini claims Moise Kean abuse was not racist, as “if Federico Bernardeschi had celebrated like that, he would’ve been treated exactly the same way.”

The 2-0 home defeat to Juventus was overshadowed by ugly scenes after Kean’s goal at the 85th minute, as he reacted to jeers that had been aimed in his direction throughout the match by celebrating with arms outstretched in front of the ultras.

This sparked even louder and very clearly racist chants from that section of the crowd, which then spread to his teammates Blaise Matuidi and Alex Sandro.

“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,” Giulini told Sky Sport Italia, during an angry row with pundit Lele Adani.

“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.

“All I heard were whistles and jeers, but if you with your microphones picked up a few isolated racist insults, then of course those were wrong, but there’s no need to be self-righteous about it and cast a shadow over the entire Cagliari fanbase or the club.”