Majority Black AC Milan make history

Last night in the cauldron of the San Siro stadium of AC Milan, something very historic occurred which could have far reaching effects way beyond the football's global spotlight.

That Barcelona FC, the greatest football team ever assembled, were categorically beaten was news worthy in of itself. The Milianese fans like the rest of the football world were almost resigned to the fact that the team would lose, but hopefully not by much. In football if you can’t win, and not many do against Barca, you try to keep the score down to a respectfully level.

But Milan did win, and emphatically too. The goal scoring heros on the night, Kevin Prince Boateng and Sulley Muntari, once played for lowly Portsmouth.

But something else occurred last night which will not be written about in today’s national newspapers but it might, just might change the way Italians see Black people. The team that beat the best club in the world had outfield players who were majority Black. Majority Black! This was the same team who collectively responded to last nights hero Prince Boateng, when he decided to walk off the field when confronted with racist fans during a friendly earlier this year.

So the team is good, it’s racially politicised and now it beat the best team in the world to send 60,000 delirious fans worshiping their multiracial team. This is in a country that has struggled to confront its racism, particularly in regards to Africans, Romanians and Muslims.

But here players such Stephan El Shaarawy, a Muslim, with parents from Italy and Egypt, and Christian Zapata, a Black Colombian, and the Ghanian born Prince Boateng, are all challenging racism on and off the field. Added to this historic mix was Italy’s adopted son Mario Balotelli, who was in the stands cheering his team mates on.

There is no doubt that to the Black world of football, AC Milan has the potential to become the new Arsenal but with a difference: Multicultural, multitalented, but with a politics that forces all who watch them to afford them respect for their skills and for who they are.

Forza Milan!

Simon Woolley