‘Bonucci’s reaction is as violent as the monkey chants’ – Thuram

On Aug 8, 2020

‘Leonardo Bonucci’s reaction is as violent as the monkey chants’: Lillian Thuram slams Juventus defender for response to racist abuse of Moise Kean

Juventus youngster Moise Kean was racially abused in their win over Cagliari
After scoring in the win, the forward held his arms outstretched in front of fans
Team-mate Leonardo Bonucci pulled him away and said ‘the blame is 50-50’
But Lillian Thuram hit out at the Italy defender, calling his comments ‘shameful’

Published: 05:57 EDT, 5 April 2019 | Updated: 06:16 EDT, 5 April 2019

Lillian Thuram has condemned Leonardo Bonucci’s ‘shameful’ response to racism, claiming the defender’s comments about abuse suffered by team-mate Moise Kean were ‘just as violent as the monkey chants’.

Kean was the target of racist abuse during Juventus‘ win over Cagliari earlier this week and responded by holding his arms outstretched in front of the crowd after scoring their second goal.

Players from both sides pulled him away, including team-mate Bonucci, who suggested Kean ‘could have done it differently’ and ‘the blame is 50-50’. The Italy international later claimed his words had been ‘misunderstood’.

Moise Kean celebrated his goal on Tuesday in front of Cagliari fans who racially abused him

Leonardo Bonucci (second right) said Kean ‘could have done it differently’ in face of abuse

But Raheem Sterling and other high-profile figures in football have hit out at Bonucci’s comments and now former World Cup winner Thuram has joined the chorus of condemnation.

‘Kean’s own team-mate says he deserves those monkey chants and that the fans can continue,’ Thuram told Le Parisien.

‘Bonucci’s reaction is as violent as the monkey chants. Bonucci is not stupid. Bonucci’s comments are just shameful. We must agree on racism.

‘Kean should feel proud in adversity and every black person should be able to stand up to people like Bonucci,’ he continued.

‘Bonucci’s reaction is as violent as the monkey chants,’ former France star Lilliam Thuram said

Raheem Sterling is among a number of people who have come out and condemned Bonucci

Thuram has long campaigned to eradicate racism from football and also works as an ambassador for UNICEF.

He has pointed the finger at the sport’s governing bodies, claiming players will continue to be abused until stricter punishments are handed out.

‘Did the referee stop the match? Has anything been done? We are in full hypocrisy,’ Thuram said.

‘This has been going on for years. Everyone says we’ll stop the game next time and it does not happen.

On Thursday Bonucci and Kean trained for the first time since Tuesday’s Cagliari win

‘The observation is that the football authorities do not care. If it really disturbed them, the match would have been stopped, believe me. The teams would have left the field and we would have found a solution.’

He added: ‘You must not fool yourself… this is more visible in the Italian stadiums, but the…