Juventus announced on Thursday they will take "all necessary measures" against Lazio fans that allegedly racially abused USMNT midfielder Weston McKennie during the first leg of the Coppa Italia semifinals on Tuesday. A video emerged on social media appearing to show the American midfielder being targeted by fans making monkey sounds as he walked on the side of the pitch following his late substitution.
The USMNT star assisted Dusan Vlahovic during the 2-0 win on Tuesday and was subbed off in the last minutes of the clash. This is not the first incident that happened to McKennie this season. In November of last year, Fiorentina were hit with a partial stadium ban after racist abuse directed at the USMNT star, as well as Dusan Vlahovic and Moise Kean. It's yet to be determined whether Lazio or their fans will receive any punishment.
Never again. pic.twitter.com/BxDEcwmLoo
— JuventusFC 🇬🇧🇺🇸 (@juventusfcen) April 4, 2024
On Thursday, Juventus issued the following statement:
"Juventus Football Club takes note of the video circulated on social networks and reported by some media from which it would emerge the intonation of discriminatory chants coming from the visiting sector and directed at Weston McKennie during his substitution in the Juventus-Lazio semifinal first leg of the Italian Cup, played on April 2. Following confirmation of the incident by the player, the club communicates that it has activated all procedures aimed at verifying what happened and will fully cooperate in order to identify the persons responsible and, consequently, take all necessary measures in this regard."
