TIEMOUE BAKAYOKO spoke out after he and his AC Milan teammate Franck Kessie suffered racist abuse from Lazio fans.
The midfielder, 27, condemned the supporters’ actions and offered a show of support for Kessie.
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Bakayoko has declared his pride in his skin color while calling on Milan to identify the culprits.
In a statement on Instagram the Frenchman said: “To some Lazio fans and their racist cries towards me and my brother Franck Kessie.
“We are strong and proud of our skin color. I have every confidence in our club to identify them.”
Bakayoko’s post was greeted with a wave of support, especially from his former teammates and professional colleagues playing in Italy.
Chelsea star Antonio Rudiger wrote “Baaakaaa” with a heart emoji accompanied by a black fist to show he has his back.
Former Napoli teammate Dries Mertens commented: “Brother” followed by several heart emojis.
Another Napoli player Faouzi Ghoulam simply said: “#NOTORACISM” and his teammate Kalidou Koulibaly wrote the same.
In 2019, Lazio fans racially abused Bakayoko during his first loan at AC Milan.
Months later, former Chelsea star Demba Ba called on black players to boycott Serie A, but there has been little progress since.
In fact, an anti-racist Serie A poster released in 2019 featured paintings of three monkeys and was subsequently rejected by some of the league’s most prominent clubs.
