As Cagliari fans hurled racist slurs at Sulley Muntari, the Pescara midfielder looked to the referee for help. But instead of stopping the Serie A match, the referee banned Muntari for one game.

The former Ghana international midfielder asked, “What am I supposed to do? Stand there and let it go? That sets a bad culture. We need this to stop.” We couldn’t agree more -- and that’s why we’re rallying behind Muntari to ask Cagliari to address the incident.  

The Serie A disciplinary committee called the fans actions “deplorable,” but said they couldn’t penalize the team. Which means it’s up to us to put the pressure on Cagliari to address fans’ racism. That’s why we’re coming together to ask Cagliari sponsor Vodafone to stand with Sulley Muntari and ask Cagliari to adopt a strong antiracist policy.

Urge Vodafone to leverage its influence as a Cagliari sponsor to demand the club address fans’ racism with a strong antiracist policy.

This isn’t the first time players have had to confront racism on the pitch. In 2013, Milan’s Kevin-Prince Boateng sparked a walk-off in response to “unspeakable” racist harassment from fans. And Muntari’s punishment for standing up to racism is proof that football won’t be free of racism until clubs take decisive antiracist action.   

Players’ union Fifpro backed up Muntari, saying that “players should feel comfortable bringing any issue to the attention of the referee, especially one as significant as allegations of racism in the workplace. It’s absurd for Muntari to have been punished, rather than supported, by the referee.  

We’ve used our people power to get Vodafone’s attention in the past, like when we came together to get Vodafone to address its shady tax record in the UK. Now, we have the chance to pressure Vodafone to use its influence as a corporate sponsor to demand Cagliari take real steps to ensure the racist targeting faced by Muntari never happens again.