Pain is only felt with the one bearing it or who has ever felt it.
For that reason, Liverpool star Raheem Sterling quashed Dortmund’s defender Leonardo Bonuccci for his comment on racist chants against young striker Moise Kean.
Leonardo Bonucci is an experienced professional, respected throughout the game, which makes his decision to partially blame Moise Kean for the disgusting racist chants from certain Cagliari fans on Tuesday night all the more disappointing.
The Juventus captain advised his young teammate not to celebrate in front of away fans after scoring – and said the blame for the racist chanting was “50-50”.
“Kean knows that when he scores a goal, he has to focus on celebrating with his teammate,” Bonucci was quoted as saying by Football Italia. “He knows he could’ve done something differently too.
“There were racist jeers after the goal, Blaise heard it and was angered. I think the blame is 50-50, because Moise shouldn’t have done that and the Curva should not have reacted that way.
“We are professionals, we have to set the example and not provoke anyone.”
Per the Independent, Kean was subjected to monkey chants by sections of the home support at the Sardegna Arena.
A video has also been posted online suggesting these accusations are accurate…
Kean made it 2-0 to Juve in the 85th minute and celebrated by standing in front of the Cagliari fans with his arms outstretched.
Now, after hearing Bonucci’s comments, Raheem Sterling – who has experienced racism in football on several occasions throughout his career – has called out the Italian on his Instagram story.
“The blame is 50-50 @bonuccileo19’” Sterling wrote, alongside some emojis.
“All you can do now is laugh.”
It seems that, like the rest of us, Sterling has been left dismayed at Bonucci’s reaction to the racist abuse from Cagliari fans towards Kean.
There’s no place for racism in football – and Bonucci’s comments have not helped matters.
Meanwhile, Kean’s agent Mino Raiola has been quoted by BBC Sport’s Simon Stone as saying: “Nobody should justify racism in any way. Racism is equal as ignorance. There is no excuse. Italy should be leading on this given how many millions of Italians live abroad. You cannot be racist + Italian. You cannot be human and racist…
“If in team/club there are people not willing to fight racism they should be leaving. Sport has [an] important role in Italian society. There is racism amongst Italians themselves. But again, racism is, by definition, ignorance and ignorant people [are] difficult to talk to.”