US soccer star Weston McKennie targeted with racist abuse in Italy as Juventus condemns vile chanting
US midfielder Weston McKennie was subjected to racist abuse while playing for Juventus on Sunday night, the Italian club said.
Following their season-opening 2-0 win at home to Parma, Juventus posted a statement on social media saying McKennie was the target of ‘discriminatory racist remarks by individuals in the away section’ while he warmed down with teammates on the pitch.
‘Juventus strongly condemns this incident and any form of racism, and will ensure full cooperation with the sporting justice authorities to identify those responsible,’ the team insisted.
McKennie, who joined Juventus in 2020, came on as a late substitute in the match in Turin, where Canada forward Jonathan David scored in his Serie A debut.
The 26-year-old has earned 60 caps for USMNT since making his international bow back in 2017, scoring 11 goals and playing at the 2022 World Cup.
Serie A, the top league in Italian soccer, has been marred by racist chanting from the stands for a number of years, with several players subjected to abuse while on the field.
Weston McKennie was subjected to racist abuse while playing for Juventus in Italy on Sunday
The USA star was warming down after their 2-0 win over Parma when the abuse took place
In 2023, Fiorentina was hit with a suspended partial stadium ban after fans directed racist and discriminatory chants at McKennie and other Juventus players.
The same year saw Inter Milan striker Romelu Lukaku sent off in their Coppa Italia semifinal match against Juventus for provoking the crowd after being racially abused by rival fans, and nine months later AC Milan players briefly walked off the field when goalkeeper Mike Maignan was targeted by Udinese supporters.
Sunday’s incident is also the latest in a series of racism allegations in European soccer as a whole.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino last week described two incidents of alleged racist abuse at German Cup games as ‘unacceptable.’
Infantino’s comments were in the wake of allegations Schalke’s Christopher Antwi Adjei was subjected to racist abuse in a cup game at Lokomotive Leipzig and a Kaiserslautern substitute was racially abused while warming up in a game at RSV Eintracht.
British police arrested a man on suspicion of racially abusing Bournemouth forward Antoine Semenyo during a Premier League game on August 16.
The man was arrested on suspicion of a racially aggravated public order offense after Semenyo, who is Black, reported to the referee that he was racially abused by a spectator in the first half of Bournemouth´s match against Liverpool at Anfield.
