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Mid-Day Ticker: Boateng, Milan stand up to racist chants, Shawcross and Jagielka sign new deals, and more

A friendly between Italian giant AC Milan and fourth division club Pro Patria was suspended early on Thursday due to racist chants towards Milan’s black players.

Just 25 minutes into the match, Milan’s Kevin-Prince Boateng punted a ball towards host Pro Patria’s supporters, some of whom had been verbally abusing him and his teammates from the opening whistle. Boateng proceeded to remove his jersey and walk off the field. In a gesture of support, his Milan teammates and the entire Pro Patria squad walked off the field together, abruptly ending the match.

Milan coach Massimiliano Allegri told reporters afterwards that he hoped that the events on the field would be “an important signal” for change in regards to racism in the sport.

Boateng, Urby Emanuelson, Sulley Muntari and M’Baye Niang were among those targeted in the chants. AC Milan was playing in a final tuneup match before its match against Siena on Sunday.

Here are some more mid-day stories from the world of soccer:

SHAWCROSS SIGNS RECORD DEAL WITH STOKE CITY

After rumors that Manchester City would make a move for their star center back heated up over the weekend, Stoke City and its fans can breathe easy today as the club re-signed Ryan Shawcross to a five-and-a-half year deal.

The 25-year-old English central defender will now make £45,000 a week. The contract, estimated to be worth £13.5M, is the biggest in Stoke City history.

The club captain indicated in November that he wanted to remain at Britannia Stadium long-term, but lengthy contract talks prompted other EPL clubs to look into Shawcross’s availability. Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool reportedly joined Manchester City in sending offers for Shawcross.

Shawcross joined Stoke City in 2008 for just £1M after a successful loan spell from Manchester United.

JAGIELKA EXTENDS CONTRACT WITH EVERTON

Another English-born defender tied his future to his current club on Thursday, as Phil Jagielka signed a contract extension that would keep him at Everton until 2017.

The extension comes on the heels of fellow defender Seamus Coleman’s re-signing last week.

The 30-year-old central defender, who has become a fixture on Roy Hodgson’s English national squads, has played in every league match for Everton this season.

Jagielka joined Everton from Sheffield United in 2007 and will most likely end his career with the Toffees.

GALINDO NAMED NEW CHIVAS COACH

After spending the last few seasons in charge of Liga MX clubs Cruz Azul, Atlas and Santos Laguna, Benjamín Galindo is returning to Chivas de Guadalajara as the club’s new manager.

Galindo was named to the position only a few hours after the club fired John Van’t Schip, whose job security was in jeopardy after fellow Dutchman Johann Cruyff’s departure from the club.

Galindo, the fourth-leading goalscorer in Chivas history, managed the club from 2004-2005. He is leaving Santos Laguna, where he won the 2012 Clausara and finished in second at the 2011-12 CONCACAF Champions League.

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Think Boateng and Milan did the right thing by walking off? What kind of effect do you see the re-signings Shawcross and Jagielka having on their respective clubs? See Galindo enjoying some success in his return to Guadalajara?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. Don’t think playing Right back will cripple Cameron’s center back skills, if anything it should give him some more positions he can play, of which he already has plenty.

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  2. American sports historians laud the bravery of baseball pioneers Jackie Robinson, Hank Aaron, and Roberto Clemente, who were said to receive constant jeers, public harassment, and physical threats. It is absolutely implausible to imagine one of those men interrupting a game to hurl equipment into the stands.

    Scour the internet for specifics of these “racist chants” and you will find nothing but standard boos and alleged taunting of Boateng’s girlfriend. At face value, everyone’s instinct is to decry racism in all forms and at all costs. Is there any hypothetical where a black player’s reaction could be deemed as oversensitive, or where cookie-cutter taunts to opposing players do not have some insidious racial undertone? If there is such a scenario, we have yet to discover it. Evra’s taunts, Sordell’s tantrums, and Ferdinand’s tweets are all brushed under the rug as perfectly defensible behavior, based simply on their hearsay accounts. If Boateng injures a spectator, who has the burden of proof in assigning liability?

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    • And when the Klan came and burnt down people’s houses did they need to provide proof to the entire town? I mean honestly I know its tough for some people to understand what it’s like to be different but for the love of all things soccer you can not write that somehow he is being Oversensitive. You can say a lot of things about someone but when you attack someone for how they were born a thing none of us can control I believe you have the right to stand up for yourself. Now You talk about Jackie Robinson and with the words “who were said to have” no these things happened the entire first 150 years of the United states Happened Black people or better non white people didn’t make this stuff up. And you know why Jackie wouldn’t throw anything into the stands because in that day a black man would have still been lynched. Do yourself a favor and actually go talk to someone who lived through that time instead of guessing.

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    • Lazio fan, you are a fool. Lots evidence has been provided about what has been said and done on different occasions . These include throwing bananas, monkey sounds etc. However, I would expect nothing more from a Lazio fan. A team whose ultras section is known for some of the worse actions in Italy

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      • I hope they have good proof that will stand up in court. But throwing stuff into the crowd is risky I innocents are standing next to the guilty. Remember when Ron Artest climbed into the crowd to get the guy that hit him with a beer, but the guilty guy pointed to the innocent man next to him and Artest assaulted an innocent man? Now imagine if a projectile from a player hits an innocent kid.

    • As I said, the moral high horse is too tall for plenty of emotionally-invested third parties to climb down from. Instead, we see strawmen like The Klan (Alexandria) and twenty years’ worth of aggregated football-related racism throughout all of Europe (Edmondo) being used to defend the slippery slope of a black player’s backlash.

      If Boateng’s aimless punt breaks the wrist of a child, do we forgive him because his feelings were hurt? If he punches a heckler who incites him with inflammatory comments, is he absolved from blame for his reaction? How about if Boateng simply murders some racist who calls him a bad name? (Actually, let’s not explore this thought experiment, as that degree of condemnation is already a bit too popular for my liking)

      Recall the interaction between Materazzi and Zidane that left the Italian on his back and the French WC team short-handed. No member of the press defended the son of unnaturalized Berber Algerians for his reaction to a comment about his sister. In fact, there was nothing imaginable that could have been considered so earth-shattering as to justify Zidane’s petulance in that instant.

      Nowadays, any need for interpretation of words is beyond the pale. The only necessity for a total media firestorm is the allegation of “racism”, which is now by definition the hearsay account of a minority member. It is journalistic sensationalism at its purest and most dishonest. You may not defend the indefensible. In fact, within polite company, you can’t even shrug your shoulders about this: you must be outraged.

      Would Jackie Robinson have been so emboldened as to heave the first base bag over the dugout and into the stands after he endured some stinging taunt? Apparently so, lest he become New York’s second black man to be lynched after 1882. (Less than 3500 blacks were lynched across the entire United States after that year, while over ten million black adult males managing to persevere here through 1968 nevertheless)

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      • Ha HA HA you think all Lynchingds were reported and accounted for?? OK! yeah moving on. You miss the point but reading your other comments there is no pt in talking to you because you believe some how that anyone getting upset about a “little” racisim is misguided yeah and Adebayour was shot at, the idea that everyone experiences this and thats what makes him able to stand up to racisim by shrugging his shoulders is truly the most deluded thing I have ever read. Ignorance must truly be bliss.

      • I imagine that you meant to spell out “drivel”… yet you are prime amidst the camp that would call me “fool” and pine for my “education”… not that my spelling or vocabulary could ever dictate any hierarchy.

        No camp of ultri congregates across the sidelines (especially during a “home game” exhibition in a fourth-tier stadium). That, though, is where Boateng directed his aggression.

        A true “international” like Adebayor would never cringe at such banalities… he has seen much worse. Plenty of American internationals have as well, in Estadio Azteca and Dodger Stadium alike.

  3. Did any of you watch the video? The Pro Patria players did not walk off the field with Boateng. Some of them even tried to stop him from leaving. There was nothing courageous about what they did.

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  4. Good on Milan and Pro Patria for walking off. Absolutely no place for such things anywhere, let alone with regard to sports. Each time I read such a story, and inevitably they’ll be more of them to come, I’m disgusted.

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  5. Damn. I was hoping Shawcross would be moved, and G. Cameron could move back into this USMNT position for Stoke of centerback (and maybe remove some of the logjam for Mo Edu). Oh well!

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    • Good point, Dainja. If Cameron continues playing right back for Stoke for the remainder of the season and then next autumn after summer break, then it is inevitable that at some point his skills as a center back are going to deteriorate while his right back skills continue to improve. Then the big question will be where to slot Cameron on the USMNT. Would Klinsmann really want a player who plays right back for his club playing as center back on the USMNT? Maybe, but, then again, maybe not.

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      • I dunno, Boca played mostly LB at Rennes while playing CB for the Nats and his form never really suffered during that spell. Granted, Big Geoff hasn’t spent nearly as much time at CB as Boca had, but I guess we’ll just have to see. Thus far, Big Geoff hasn’t shown any adverse effects with USMNT and playing regularly in the BPL, even out of position, is fantastic experience.

      • During Guatelmala game, some professional observers thought that early goal by Ruiz was partly due to Cameron going forward using his RB habits, rather than staying back as a CB would. That error, coupled with Boca being out of position, opened up space for Ruiz to round Howard.

    • And Huth just signed a 3 year deal so I doubt he’s going anywhere. Stoke likes Big Geoff exactly where he is. They like the lay of their defense how it is now and don’t want to change anything.

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      • Stoke essentially plays with 4 CBs across their back line. Their (ridiculously ugly) style of play doesn’t really ask the fullbacks to perform like normal fullbacks. Cameron’s CB skills won’t erode nearly as much because of this.

  6. There isn’t a problem with racism in sports. There is a problem with racism in human relations. If only we could respond so emphatically to the ugliness that’s posted or spoken every day about our President, as well as about countless others, both famous and not, of variying “racial” mixes.

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    • You seem to confuse complaints about the President with racism. That is stupid and out of place. I remember the previous Presidents (heck, all of them) getting complaints about them too. Take your agenda elsewhere.

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      • I believe his comments are directly referencing the negative comments that Obama gets because of his race, not of his approval rating. I don’t think it’s an agenda.

      • And where are all these daily racist remarks about the President? I don’t see them and can’t seem to find them. The ‘agenda’ is in the assumption that ‘well, gosh, it must be happening somewhere, because, ya know, all those guys ‘over there’ are racists….even though I’m not over there and don’t know any of them.’

        Personally, I hate when anything interferes with the simple beauty of Sport – racism, politics, stupid personal antics (looking at you Ocho Cinco)…it all takes away from what Sport should be.

        /stepsoffsoapbox

      • What? There’s plenty of racist things said about the president from all over the country. Just look at the stuff posted on social media, just becuase you don’t hear doesn’t mean it’s not there. Also, suggesting Fischy has an agenda is ridiculous on your part. He’s saying that president Obama receiving racial abuse is appalling, not anything regarding political preferences.

      • That is, in part, my point. People who want to see racism see it “all over the country” but when for examples of pervasive, large scale racism in the US they go mum. If you want another proof of point, look at the Solles’s idiotic comment above re: Tea Party. I’m sure he/she/it has seen a ton of examples of TP racism, right? Has attended a lot of their events? Yeah, thought not.

        The bigger point, and much more germane to this site, is that Sports should be based on the honest competition of the competitors and nothing else. ANY outside influence (politics, hooliganism, racism, religion…ad infinitum) is annoying and should be discouraged.

      • I guess he must be around the wrong peopl then to hear that stuff. I don’t hear racist things about the president, even though we here in Western Kentucky aren’t big fans of his policies or his record. Sorry if he actually has to hear that stuff, I just took it like Ive heard so many times from MSNBC that ANY criticism is somehow racist.

    • I think in (certain parts of) Europe, racism, sports, politics and identity are so interwoven that it’s difficult to see where one stops and the other begins. Examples are Berlusconi serving as president of Italy while being the owner of AC Milan; the roots of El Clasico in the Spanish Civil War; the origins of Partizan v. Red Star in World War II, communist army against anti-fascists; Celtic v. Rangers, Catholics against Protestants; Olimpiakos v. Panathinaikos; Roma v. Lazio; Ajax-Feyenoord…the list goes on. Unfortunately, it’s insufficient to point to just race, or geography, or political identity.

      I generally frown on invoking politics on this site in particular, but I feel it’s relevant, at least in this particular thread. We’re having a huge debate here in the United States about gun control vs. civil liberties, if better mental health treatment is required, etc., etc. Here and in Europe, everyone is sticking their heads in the sand with regard to the Western love affair with violence, in all of its forms. Until this specter is confronted, we will continue to have these discussions to little to no effect.

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  7. I’m glad Pro Patria joined them in walking off, but what disturbs me is the reaction from Pro Patria. They effectively said “hey, it wasn’t our ultras, we’ve never seen them before”. Well, it was going on for 25+ minutes, in YOUR stadium. Regardless of whether you know them or not, you’re responsible, and something should have been done well in advance of Boateng forcing their hand

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    • “It wasn’t OUR fans” is the oldest, best excuse, which is why it is always the FIRST and sometimes ONLY excuse used by clubs.

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  8. I tend to think of Europeans as being unanimously liberal and forward-thinking, and yet most, if not all, cases of racist chants, thrown bananas, etc. come from European fans. Obviously this is a teeny, tiny minority, but it’s disappointing.*

    *Before an undergraduate says, “Dude, ‘Merica’s worse,” please don’t. I am aware.

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    • Hard to argue America is worst on this. I can’t imagine someone in a pro stadium chanting racist chants and getting away with it. This is a too often common occurance in Europe, and perhaps especially in Italy. Remember the home Italian fans chanting “There are no black Italians” at Mario Biotelli?

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    • Europe is PC. but some of it is more forced than natural. In some places they keep their racism quiet and in others theyre loud Nd proud for it

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      • Yes, as in electing an african-american president kind of “quiet”.

        there is racism here, but it’s universaly looked down upon… unless it’s against latin americans. Even that is improving.

      • …except for when we don’t. Racism is perhaps just more below the surface here rather than in your face but it absolutely exists, how else do you explain the tea party:) (sorry for the politics)

      • It’s not socially acceptable here. In a lot of places in Western Europe they’re 20 years behind America in terms of social acceptance, in Eastern Europe they’re a lot further behind than that.

        America is assuredly not perfect, and there is no doubting the latent racism that drips from a lot of the tea party’s invective…but America still elected – and then re-elected – a black president. Cows will fly in Italy and certainly in the Ukraine before that happens.

      • Europe needs to fix this crap and America has done a great job of resolving our own issues. We’re not perfect, but Europe has come to the point of being ridiculous in this day and age.

  9. I’m glad I watch MLS and not these European leagues. A bunch of racist, I can go to a NYRB and not here racist fans. As a black man, I understand when players want to leave the field. Instead of Blatter worrying about MLS, he needs to find a way to bring this crap to a stop. FIFA is a corrupt organization and needs to be fix.

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      • I agree with this sentiment totally.
        but at the end of the day, football cannot stop racism. The best they can do with local government help is prevent the offenders from entering the grounds.
        These racists and their chants are a product of society, and it will take generations to heal, not just some mandates and the political will of FIFA.
        But undoubtedly FIFA can do much more in the fight than it presently does.

    • Unfortunately MLS is not free of discimination. There have been a couple of MLS players caught using homophobic slurs on TV broadcasts recently. I am sure that that type of thing goes on more often than it gets caught on camera.

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  10. Good for Boateng and both teams to stand behind him. It’s ridiculous and frustrating to have to continue reading about these incidents.

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    • Totally agree, glad to see the home team support Boateng and his teammates.

      I can’t believe this continues to happen, I feel like we are regressing as a society….sad state of affairs.

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      • Disagree. Racism in Western Europe has simply been swept under the rug and ignored. Spain, Austria, Italy, France (religous and Arab centric) are major culprits from my travels. Ireland and Scotland aren’t great shakes either. In these countries racism is fairly common, but now, they are finally being called out, and have to acknowledge, deal with it. Can’t hide and ignore for much longer.

        Yes, it’s more obvious in the former eastern Boca and Russia, but it’s going to take generations from former isolation. In many Western Euro countries it was simply minimized and ignored.

    • If the Referees would stop the matches then the players wouldn’t have to take a stand. Seems to me like the players are going to have to do this more and more, and I support them and applaud them for doing so. Perhaps FIFA will start doing something positive if more matches are abandoned in this manner, especially matches that “matter” and not just a friendly.

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      • never like seeing/hearing racism but what a statement that would be! to stop a league game. The referees should have that power and that backing.

      • I disagree. The referee should never be put in the situation to pause/stop a game due to anything “off” the pitch. What better way than to help your team who is losing to an opponent than having a supporter group start chanting offensively at the other team? It would force the referee to make a decision, and truly hamper the game, which benefits no one. It should remain the responsibility of the home team security team to eject such “fans” and more should be done to enforce existing requirements by the home teams to eject these ignorant fools.

  11. Glad to see that the home team joined ACM in walking off. Don’t know if this will have any impact, but sure hope so. This kind of thing (racist chanting) is really pathetic.

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