As Tiemoue Bakayoko appeared off the bench for his second Milan debut, a section of Lazio fans at the San Siro appeared to throw racist chants at the French defensive midfielder. His teammate and Ivorian international Franck Kessie was also on the receiving end of slurs from the away Biancocelesti fans, according to Bakayoko.
As a result, Lazio will reportedly be fined in due time in accordance with FIGC’s investigation. According to La Gazzetta dello Sport, the FIGC Federal Prosecutor’s Office has officially opened proceedings in order to identify perpetrators behind the heinous action.
The alleged racist chants will be investigated by the Italian prosecutors by examining video footage from the game, along with evidence provided by the Rossoneri and the testimonials of players themselves.
The Italian Football Federation released a statement, saying: “The federal prosecutors’ office has opened an investigation against SS Lazio following the complaint filed by AC Milan for discriminatory songs by Biancocelesti fans against the player Bakayoko during Milan-Lazio on 12 September.”
Bakayoko himself took to Instagram to point out the predicament.
#MilanLazio, la Procura Figc apre indagine sui cori razzisti a #Bakayoko . Gazidis: 'Dovere morale, non ignoriamo la discriminazione' #Milan #Lazio https://t.co/avxeZ5hczX pic.twitter.com/ymSxC6o5fp
— calciomercato.com (@cmdotcom) September 17, 2021
According to LazioNews24, the fact that it was an away game for the club could mean that the maximum penalty would only be a simple fine. But that remains to be seen as Claudio Lotito’s club are infamously in the headlines for racial abuse once again.
Milan went on to win the game 2-0, thanks to goals from Rafael Leao and Zlatan Ibrahimovic.