Roma punished for racist, insulting chants at Kessie, Zlatan

AC Milan's Zlatan Ibrahimovic celebrates after scoring his side's opening goal during the Series A soccer match between Roma and AC Milan at Rome's Olympic stadium. (Gregorio Borgia/AP)

MILAN (AP) — Roma’s hard-core “ultra” fans were given a suspended one-match ban by the Italian league on Tuesday for racist and insulting chants aimed at AC Milan players Franck Kessie and Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

The incidents occurred during Milan’s 2-1 win on Sunday at the Stadio Olimpico, where Ibrahimovic and Kessie scored for Milan.

League judge Gerardo Mastrandrea ordered the “Curva Sud” — the southern end of the stadium — closed for one game. But the ban is suspended for a year, during which if Roma has any further violations, it will be added to the new sanction.

Roma coach Jose Mourinho was fined 10,000 euros ($11,500) for “disrespectful” behaviour toward the referee after the game.

Also, Atalanta was fined 25,000 euros ($29,000) after its fans threw an object, “likely a coin” according to the disciplinary report, that hit Lazio goalkeeper Pepe Reina, who continued playing after falling to the ground.

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