Boateng walk out

[Mr1Croft]

After racist chants Boateng ripped his shirt off and walked off the pitch. After several moments of confusion the AC Milan captain instructed the rest of the squad to leave the field in support of Boateng and the game was postponed.

Turning point in the fight against racism or unfair on the paying fans because of a minority? Thoughts?

[IDM]

Hard to judge, this was a "friendly" fixture?  Would the players have done the same in a proper fixture under the jurisdiction of the relevant FA?

[wilts rover]

The players were applauded off the pitch by most of the crowd apparently.

I doubt it will have any effect myself, other than a big fine for an Italian 4th division club. Now if UEFA/FIFA were to say that no Italian team would play in Europe or the World Cup until they got their home football in order - maybe then they might take it seriously.

[BillyStubbsTears]

Excellent approach by Boateng. More of this is needed. The authorities clearly don't take it seriously and only direct action will bring about a change.

The proudest I have ever been as a Rovers fan was the day we played Southport at OBV back in the Conference days and a bloke very actively shouted to the stewards pointing out the d**khead who had been calling a Southport player a "f**king gorilla", leading to the racist fan being chucked out.

[FuzzyDuck]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/video/2013/jan/03/milan-players-refuse-to-play-after-racist-abuse-video

Good for Boateng! I hope FIFA and the other football authorities will ask the same questions as me

- How long before this happens during a competitive match?

- How do we prevent this?

For me it's a matter of getting tough with the FAs like Ukraine, Poland and Serbia (to name a few) who have clear issues.  Unrealistic at the moment.  FIFA get tough on very little that matters but perhaps acts like Boateng's will pressurize them in that direction.

My only worry is that we'll end up with a game where racism will be used as an excuse to take players off a pitch when the real reason lies somewhere else.  For instance, the team is losing.  Unfortunately, we have too many ego-centric, spoilt brats it the game so as disgraceful as this would be, it could happen

[The L J Monk]

Clarence Seedorf isn't a big fan of Boateng's actions:

"I don't feel it's such a fabulous thing. These people will feel empowered now. They should just be identified and kicked out of the stadium".

[RobTheRover]

I agree with Clarence, however they DONT get kicked out of the stadium.  That is why players will undoubtedly take it into their own hands.

There is no place for racism in modern society, let alone in football.

[oggycompton]

I think with this response from Boateng he has done more for racism in football than useless Blatter and FIFA have done the whole time. Hopefully, these fedarations will stand up and take notice. Racism has no place in football.

[Sandy Lane]

Well done to the captain of AC Milan as well by instructing the rest of the team to leave the pitch in support of Boeteng, or what would have happened to the player then??

[RedJ]

Fined and replaced with a sub I'd imagine.