The discourse that makes racism disappear: Italian football and the (re)construction of the Maignan case.

Abstract

When French goalkeeper Mike Maignan, during a game between Udinese and his team AC Milan in January 2024, asked the referee to suspend the match in the face of continuous racist abuse from the stands, it seemed a transformative moment for Italian football. There was wide expression of support for the last in a long series of players racially abused in the game. The culprits were rapidly identified and banned, the hosting team was forced to play two games in an empty ground. Over the following weeks, however, the owners of Udinese calcio, Udinese fans groups, local and national politicians, instigated a campaign to clear their image from the accusation of being “racists”. Drawing on Critical Discourse Analysis and Critical Race Theory, this paper examines such an emerging discourse that, while eluding the issue (racism) transforms the assumed culprits into victims and makes structural or institutional racism recede from view.