Pescara FC member Sulley Muntari walked off the pitch in protest when a referee booked him after he claimed he was being racially abused during a league match.
The 32-year-old former Ghana midfielder asked referee Daniele Minelli to stop Sunday’s Serie A game at Cagliari.
Instead, Minelli booked for dissent in the 89th minute, prompting the former Portsmouth and Sunderland player to leave the pitch in protest.
He angrily confronted Cagliari fans, shouting, “This is my color.”
Speaking after the game, Muntari said, “The referee should not just stay on the field and blow the whistle, he must do everything.
“He should be aware of these things and set an example. I asked him if had heard the insults. I insisted that he must have the courage to stop the game.”
Pescara boss Zdenek Zeman, whose side lost 1-0, said, “He asked the referee to intervene, but he [said he had] neither heard nor seen anything. Muntari was right, but he shouldn’t have left the pitch. It’s not up to us to dole out justice. We can talk a lot about it but then it must be left with the powers that be. Today this has happened when Muntari has already played in Italy for many years. We hope that mentalities will change.”
