Sulley Muntari walks off pitch after being booked for protesting racist abuse
Table of Contents
Pescara midfielder Sulley Muntari left Sunday's Serie A match at Cagliari after his complaints of alleged racist abuse were met with a yellow card.
In the final minutes of the Serie A match, Muntari complained to referee Daniele Minelli about racial insults he was receiving from the stands at the Stadio Sant'Elia.
The former Portsmouth and Sunderland player was visibly agitated and slapping the skin on his own arm to make the point.
However, it seems that Minelli did not hear the racist insults from the stands, and instead booked Muntari for dissent.
A disgusted Muntari reacted by walking off the pitch and leaving Pescara with ten men for the final few minutes of the match with Cagliari winning 1-0.
While leaving the pitch in frustration, Muntari went to address more supporters, showing them his arm and shouting: "This is my colour."
"They were chanting against me from the start, then in the first half I saw in the group there were some children and the parents said nothing," Muntari explained to Sky Sport Italia.
"So I turned to the parents and gave them my jersey, to set the example. In the Curva, the issue continued with another group of fans.
"I was trying to reason with them, but the referee told me to leave them alone. That's when I got angry. Because rather than stop the game, he decided to punish me?
"The fans were wrong, but the referee had to act differently, not accuse me of causing trouble. I am the victim here. If the officials begin actually stopping games when this happens, I am convinced it won't happen again."
This situation will inevitably spark controversy and further debate on how Serie A has a pretty awful record regarding racism in football.
Earlier in the season, Lazio's Senad Lulić received a 20-day ban for a making a racist comment about AS Roma player Antonio Rüdiger.
In 2013, AC Milan player Kevin-Prince Boateng walked off the pitch because of racist chanting during a friendly with lower-league side Pro Patria.
Muntari was at Inter Milan in 2010 when their game against Cagliari was stopped for a number of minutes after racist abuse was aimed at Samuel Eto'o.
In the final minutes of the Serie A match, Muntari complained to referee Daniele Minelli about racial insults he was receiving from the stands at the Stadio Sant'Elia.
The former Portsmouth and Sunderland player was visibly agitated and slapping the skin on his own arm to make the point.
However, it seems that Minelli did not hear the racist insults from the stands, and instead booked Muntari for dissent.
A disgusted Muntari reacted by walking off the pitch and leaving Pescara with ten men for the final few minutes of the match with Cagliari winning 1-0.
While leaving the pitch in frustration, Muntari went to address more supporters, showing them his arm and shouting: "This is my colour."
"They were chanting against me from the start, then in the first half I saw in the group there were some children and the parents said nothing," Muntari explained to Sky Sport Italia.
"So I turned to the parents and gave them my jersey, to set the example. In the Curva, the issue continued with another group of fans.
"I was trying to reason with them, but the referee told me to leave them alone. That's when I got angry. Because rather than stop the game, he decided to punish me?
"The fans were wrong, but the referee had to act differently, not accuse me of causing trouble. I am the victim here. If the officials begin actually stopping games when this happens, I am convinced it won't happen again."
This situation will inevitably spark controversy and further debate on how Serie A has a pretty awful record regarding racism in football.
Earlier in the season, Lazio's Senad Lulić received a 20-day ban for a making a racist comment about AS Roma player Antonio Rüdiger.
In 2013, AC Milan player Kevin-Prince Boateng walked off the pitch because of racist chanting during a friendly with lower-league side Pro Patria.
Muntari was at Inter Milan in 2010 when their game against Cagliari was stopped for a number of minutes after racist abuse was aimed at Samuel Eto'o.
Don't forget to join us on Twitter and Facebook for more updates!
