Milan’s Constant suffers racist abuse

“Racist chants are despicable and scandalous and they should be fought against and I want to stress that,” Milan vice president Adriano Galliani said. “But the rules are that when they happen,you should turn to the referee,who will tell the fourth official,who will advise the person responsible in the police,who is the only one authorized to suspend the game.

“There is solidarity with Constant,but it is not OK to leave the pitch. I have told him,repeated it and written it to everyone: You can’t leave the pitch.”

The walkout by the French-born Guinean player,during a pre-season tournament match against Sassuolo in the northern city of Reggio Emilia,comes just months after a similar incident involving AC Milan midfielder Kevin-Prince Boateng.

Boateng led the team off the pitch during a friendly in January in protest at racist chanting by the lower division side Pro Patria’s home fans.FIFA said it is “monitoring the situation” and awaiting the outcome of the Italian football federation’s investigation.

“FIFA’s position on the issue of racism is unequivocally clear: There is no place in football for racism or for any form of discrimination,” FIFA said in a statement.

“The federation’s prosecutor has opened an investigation to ascertain the extent of the racist episode which took place yesterday evening… which saw AC Milan player Kevin Constant subjected to chants from some supporters in the stands,” FIGC said in a statement on their website (www.figc.it).