Juventus match halted as Fiorentina fans hurl racist chants at Vlahovic

FLORENCE, Italy (AP) – Juventus’ match at Fiorentina was briefly stopped on Saturday after extended racist and discriminatory chanting from the home fans.

An announcement had already been made in the 11th minute for the fans to stop the chants directed at former Fiorentina forward Dusan Vlahovic, who is Serbian.

The insults grew even more vociferous when Juventus was initially awarded a penalty in the 14th minute after Pablo Mari appeared to pull down Vlahovic, but the decision was overturned after a video review.

The referee was about to restart the match but instead had to tell Fiorentina captain Gianluca Mancini to ask the fans to stop the chanting.

It is the third year in a row that there has been racist chanting towards Vlahovic, who acrimoniously left Fiorentina in January 2022.

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