Italy: Man banned from stadium for five years for racially abusing AC Milan goalkeeper

A man suspected of shouting racist abuse at AC Milan goalkeeper Mike Maignan has been banned from every football stadium in Italy for five years.

The 46-year-old is accused of chanting the abuse at Maignan 12 times during the club's Serie A match at Udinese on Saturday.

He is also said to be a known criminal in the province of Udine, Sky News understands.

In addition to the nationwide sanction imposed by the Udine Public Prosecutor's office, Udinese has banned him from its Bluenergy Stadium for life.

Police are looking at CCTV and social media to try to identify any others who may have been involved.

Italy's interior minister, Matteo Piantedosi, has described the chanting as "abominable".

AC Milan players walked off the pitch after the chanting was heard, with play being suspended for about 10 minutes.

Maignan, 28, was born in French Guiana but grew up in Paris and plays for the France national team.

He was seen remonstrating with referee Fabio Maresca before removing his gloves and walking off, his teammates following as he went down the tunnel.

Maignan also told the referee about alleged monkey chants earlier in the match, prompting an announcement in the stadium asking fans to stop.

"They made monkey noises and it's not the first time it's happened to me," Maignan told DAZN after the game.

Udinese has vowed to identify those who racially abused him.

Earlier this month, Lazio was sanctioned with a one-match partial stadium closure for racist chants directed at Roma striker Romelu Lukaku.

Coventry City's Kasey Palmer has said he was subjected to racist abuse at Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday.

The incident happened during their 2-1 win in the Sky Bet Championship at Hillsborough.

Wednesday have called the alleged abuse "abhorrent and wholly unacceptable" and are working with police to identify those responsible.