Riled Kevin-Prince Boateng takes swipe at Rino Gattuso

KEVIN-PRINCE Boateng insists he will walk off the pitch again if he is racially abused – even if it is in the Champions League – and criticised Fifa for not doing more to tackle the issue.

He also criticised former Milan and Rangers defender Rino Gattuso, now playing in Switzerland with Sion, for downplaying the incident.

Boateng walked off during a club friendly against fourth-tier side Pro Patria on Thursday followed by the rest of his team. The 25-year-old Ghana international warned he will do the same again and has been backed up by club president Silvio Berlusconi.

Boateng said: “I don’t care what game it is – a friendly, Serie A or Champions League match, I’d walk off the pitch again and I think everyone would support me. I saw massive support from England and massive players like Rio Ferdinand and Patrick Vieira, and I want to say thank you.”

However, he took issue with Gattuso for his remarks in Corriere della Sera, in which he was quoted as saying: “Boateng certainly felt he was offended, but I continue to not see it as racism. It just seems to be the latest episode of collective idiocy from a minority. How many times have there been boos against white players in the past? It’s happened to me too, but I didn’t give it any importance.”

Boateng, however, hit back, saying: “I think if someone wasn’t there they can’t say there were no racist people there. Other players afterwards told me it wasn’t nice, to hear the noises of a monkey. It was 100 per cent racist. It was a racist act and that’s why I acted like that.”

PFA chief Gordon Taylor sympathised with Boateng, but believes it should be the referee who abandons the match. Taylor said: “The racist abuse should be reported to the match officials by the player and team captain, and then the crowd warned if the racist abuse continues the match will be abandoned.”