AC Milan director Paolo Maldini has dismissed accusations leveled at Zlatan Ibrahimovic in the aftermath of his bust-up with Inter Milan striker Romelu Lukaku.
The defeat to Inter was dominated by the ugly row between Ibrahimovic and Romelu Lukaku, whom have both been handed one-match bans.
“I am very instinctive and always have been. I have the image of a balanced man, and I suppose I am. With regards the derby, it was an ugly incident, it went on really for too long, but it ends there," the former captain and current director told Sky Sport Italia.
“We'll see how it goes. If someone tries to pull racism into this, then we are prepared to defend our player, because racism has nothing to do with Ibra.
“The player apologised to the team for leaving them down to 10 men. Lukaku was attacking his teammates for no reason, so he stood up for them.
“What happened was that it went on for far too long and it should've been closed much earlier. I don't expect anything other than for him to be Ibra, and his statistics have been exceptional.
“This is a player who is eager, hungry and determined."
