'Clean Our Stadiums': Batshuayi Responds to Racial Abuse on Twitter After Atalanta Charged By UEFA
Michy Batshuayi has taken to Twitter to respond to the racial abuse he received during Borussia Dortmund's trip to Atalanta.
The Belgian forward, on loan at the Bundesliga club from Chelsea, was the target of a group of home fans asΒ Dortmund overcame Atalanta in the Europa League.
The Italian club have since been charged by UEFA and Batshuayi reacted to the news on social media.
"A couple idiots should never make us forget why we love football," he wrote.Β "Lets clean our stadiums and play the beautiful game."
Immediately after the game at Atalanta, Batshuayi had reacted angrily. "2018 and still racists monkey noises in the stands ... really ?!" he wrote.Β "Hope you have fun watching the rest of @EuropaLeague on TV while we are through.Β #SayNoToRacism#GoWatchBlackPanther."
Garth Crooks, Trustee of Kick It Out, said in response to his post: βKick It Out is concerned about recent alleged incidents across Europe where referees have appeared to not observe agreed protocols.
βThe organisation have raised the issues with the FARE Network about recent cases involving Mario Balotelli and Michy Batshuayi and have asked Bobby Barnes, the President of the European Division of FIFPro, to highlight this issue at the UEFA Congress in Bratislava this weekend.β
It is expected that the perpetrators of the racial abuse will be given lifetime bans. This is not the first instance of such deplorable behaviour at Atalanta. The club received a one-game stand closure after being found guilty of aiming chants at Napoli's Kalidou Koulibaly earlier this year.