Italian club Juventus emerged 2-0 winners against Parma in their Serie A season opener earlier on Sunday. Canadian International Jonathan David scored in his club debut in the 59th minute while Dusan Vlahovic added an 84th-minute goal to seal the deal.
However, the club was instead focussed on an unfortunate incident surrounding USMNT member Weston McKennie, who was brought on late in the 89th minute for Kenan Yildiz. McKennie was subjected to racial abuse by some fans seated in the away section of the Allianz Stadium while warming up on the sidelines, the club confirmed via a statement.
“This evening, at the end of the match against Parma, Weston McKennie was subjected to discriminatory racist remarks by some individuals in the away section, while he was training on the pitch with his teammates who had not taken part in the game,” the statement read, per ESPN.
“Juventus strongly condemns this incident and any form of racism, and will ensure full cooperation with the sporting justice authorities to identify those responsible,” it continued.
McKennie, who joined Juve in 2020, had previously been subjected to similar chants by Fiorentina fans back in 2019 alongside multiple other Juventus stars. The club was then hit with a suspended partial stadium ban to curb the situation.
However, racism continues to be a huge problem in European Football with multiple incidents being reported in the last few weeks alone. Schalke’s Christopher Antwi-Adjei was allegedly subjected to racist abuse during a cup game at Lokomotive Leipzig, while a Kaiserslautern substitute faced similar abuse while warming up against RSV Eintracht.
In England, UK police arrested a man after Bournemouth’s Antoine Semenyo reported racial abuse during the Premier League clash against Liverpool at Anfield on August 16.
