Sterling Criticises Bonucci For Racist Comments

By Joshua Walters

Raheem Sterling has hit out at Juventus' Leonardo Bonucci over the latter's claim on the racist abuse suffered by his teammate Moise Kean on Tuesday night.

The Juventus striker was the target of racial chants from a section of the Cagliari fans as the defending champions beat The Islanders 2-0 at the Sardegna Arena.

Kean, 19, was defiant to the monkey chants that were being directed until he acted in a seeming response after scoring a late goal.

Moise latched onto Rodrigo Bentancur's low cross in the 85th minute to score Juventus' second goal with a simple tap in from inside the goal area and celebrated by standing in front of the home fans with his hands aloft. 

The gesture was met by vile taunts from the crowd, and Bonucci said in a post-match interview that Moise invited the racist chants on himself with the mode of his celebration. 

''Kean knows that when he scores a goal, he has to focus on celebrating with his team-mates. He knows he could've done something differently too,' Bonucci told Sky Sport Italia.

''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 [section of fans] should not have reacted that way.

''We are professionals, we have to set the example and not provoke anyone.''

Juventus captain Giorgio Chiellini led some of his teammates to protest to referee Piero Giacomelli, who was also in conversations with both managers as Cagliari skipper Luca Ceppitelli went over to the fans behind the goal to appeal to them to stop. 

The incident came eight days after some England players were subjected to racist abuse during their Euro 2020 qualifier in Montenegro, and Raheem Sterling who was a victim of that incident thought it was laughable for Bonucci to suggest that Kean shared in the blame.

"The blame is 50-50", Sterling wrote on his Instagram page as he tagged Bonucci. "All you can do now is laugh," the player continued as he added emojis to the post.