Play was temporarily halted during Spezia’s Serie A match with Torino this afternoon over racist abuse aimed at coach Ivan Juric, so Emanuel Gyasi urged his own fans to stop.
The game was in first half stoppages with Toro leading 1-0 when the incident became insufferable for Juric.
There was a group of supporters right behind the team bench who were calling Juric racist and offensive discriminatory terms referencing his Croatian heritage.
Juric alerted the fourth official, who told the referee, and the protocol was activated to stop play for a few minutes while a statement was read out over the speaker system.
In addition, Spezia captain on the day Gyasi also intervened and walked over to that area of the pitch, apologising to Juric and urging his fans to stop this abhorrent behaviour.
The use of racist terms towards players and coaches from the Balkans is sadly growing in Italian football, with Juventus striker Dusan Vlahovic subjected to abuse from opposition supporters in recent weeks.
Jose Mourinho also stepped in to stop Roma fans aiming the same chant towards Sampdoria coach Dejan Stankovic at the Stadio Olimpico.