Milan briefly halted play during their game with Bologna to light up San Siro and show solidarity to Mike Maignan using a Martin Luther King quote.
Play was momentarily halted at the 16th minute – as Maignan wears the Number 16 jersey – during the Serie A game.
All eyes looked up to the big screen, where a quote from the civil rights icon MLK was shown:
“Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that.”
The crowd around the arena held up their phone lights to make the stands a glittering sight and applause rang out before play resumed.
This was the first match since the shocking scenes at the Bluenergy Stadium last week, when a group of Udinese fans repeatedly hurled racist abuse at the goalkeeper.
The referee halted play for five minutes and a warning was read out that any further incidents would lead to the game being abandoned completely.
Maignan was incensed and tempted to walk off down the tunnel before he was convinced to continue, trusting the anti-racism protocol.
Udinese have worked with police to help identify and give lifetime bans to those responsible, while the club is appealing against the one-match closed doors order on the entire stadium.
The San Siro shows its support to Mike Maignan ❤️
The goalkeeper was racially abused by a group of Udinese fans last week.
TNT Sports and @discoveryplusUK 📺 pic.twitter.com/4qq0PIjXA0
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) January 27, 2024
Minuto 16 di Milan-Bologna pic.twitter.com/hDx7UpiBbp
— Daniele Longo (@86_longo) January 27, 2024
#KeepRacismOut. #MilanBologna pic.twitter.com/tsaXiqNmw4
— Lega Serie A (@SerieA) January 27, 2024