A brawl erupted after the final whistle of Milan’s 1-0 win away to Cagliari, seemingly because there was some racist abuse from the Sardinian supporters.
Mike Maignan was closest to the Cagliari end and was celebrating at the final whistle with Fikayo Tomori when the insults intensified.
Maignan put one hand to his ear, mocking the ultras and urging them to carry on, which infuriated the Cagliari players.
Serie A | Cagliari 0-1 Milan: Bennacer and crossbar decisive in Sardinia
They thought Maignan was winding up their fans and reacted angrily, sparking a massive scuffle including players from both teams, members of staff and Milan director Paolo Maldini, who was in the thick of it trying to calm everyone down.
According to Sky Sport Italia, the row then deteriorated between Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Joao Pedro, who continued to insult each other even going into the tunnel.
It sadly would not be the first time that Cagliari ultras have been guilty of racist abuse, as there have been several incidents over the years.
They had also insulted the likes of Juventus striker Moise Kean and last season Inter forward Romelu Lukaku.
After that incident, Cagliari President Tommaso Giulini imposed a life-time ban on three supporters who had been identified.
😡 Things got heated after the full-time whistle, with allegations that Cagliari fans racially abused Tomori after the full-time whistle.
📹 @notgiorgia2pic.twitter.com/HD5CiIPwYG
— SempreMilan (@SempreMilanCom) March 19, 2022
Off topic: God knows how much I respect Maldini, beside his legendary status, a true leader as well.
This kind of thing is not surprising but not an Italian only issue. Throughout Europe particularly in the Eastern/Baltic States players still have to deal with monkey chants and banana peel being hurled at them.
This kind of behavior should not suppose to happen in football ⚽
Maldini ❤
I hope Cagliari enjoy Serie B!