Jose Mourinho reportedly had to intervene to stop racist chants from Roma fans allegedly calling Zlatan Ibrahimovic a ‘gypsy’.
The Italian side’s trip to AC Milan ended in a 3-1 defeat despite Tammy Abraham’s 40th-minute strike, with Olivier Giroud, Junior Messias and Rafael Leao all on target for the hosts.
But a feisty Serie A fixture was marred by reports of racist chanting, allegedly aimed at Ibrahimovic, by the away fans.
According to reports, the incident occurred just as the 40-year-old was coming off the bench. Another incident just a few minutes before he would set up Leao for Milan’s decisive third goal of the night at the Stadio Meazza.
The report states that Roma boss Mourinho heard the racist remarks coming from away fans.
The former Chelsea, Manchester United and Tottenham boss is then consequently said to have called the traveling fans to stop the abuse, which they reportedly immediately did.
However, the racist songs and insults were restarted and continued even when Ibrahimovic and his team-mates were going through their warm down.
“We have zero tolerance for any form of racism”. A statement from Roma read.
“The club has been committed to combating racism and any form of discrimination for years. As an organization, we continue to do everything we can to change the behavior of some fans in a positive way”.