Zlatan Ibrahimovic shares anti-racism message amid Romelu Lukaku 'voodoo' controversy

Zlatan Ibrahimovic has seemingly moved to deny any racism on his part, following questions over the nature of the insults thrown between him and Romelu Lukaku during Tuesday evening's Milan derby.

With Milan leading 1-0 thanks to an Ibrahimovic goal, the former Manchester United teammates clashed on the stroke of half time, exchanging words and squaring up to one another before being pulled apart by teammates. They were both shown yellow cards for the fiery exchange.

The Swedish forward would go on to see red in the second half for a second bookable offence. Inter made their man advantage count as the ran out 2-1 winners thanks to a Lukaku penalty and last-gasp Christian Eriksen winner.

During the confrontation between the two strikers, Ibrahimovic can be seen apparently saying to Lukaku: "Go do your voodoo s***, you little donkey", arousing concerns of possible racist abuse.

The Milan forward took to social media on Wednesday with a clear anti-racism message, in an apparent response to the backlash over the incident.

"In ZLATAN’s world there is no place for RACISM," Ibrahimovic wrote on Twitter. "We are all the same race - we are all equal !! We are all PLAYERS some better then (than) others."

The 39-year-old then Tweeted a link to a video from his Instagram page from June 2020 which depicts a black and white toddler running towards one another and embracing, complete with the caption "We are ONE."

Ibrahimovic's 'voodoo' comment, if that is indeed what he said, is thought by many to be a reference to Lukaku's Everton exit in 2018. The Belgian striker departed Goodison Park for Old Trafford in a £75m move in July, having rejected a lucrative new deal from the Toffees four months earlier.

Everton’s major shareholder Farhad Moshiri claimed that Lukaku turned down the chance to extend his stay on Merseyside because a voodoo message had told him to join Chelsea.

"We offered him a better deal than Chelsea and his agent came to Finch Farm to sign the contract," Moshiri said (via the Guardian). "Robert [Elstone, Everton’s chief executive] was there, everything was in place, there were a few reporters outside, then in the meeting Rom called his mother. He said he was on a pilgrimage in Africa or somewhere and he had a voodoo and he got the message that he needs to go to Chelsea."

A known Catholic, Lukaku rubbished the story at the time, even threatening to sue Moshiri over the bizarre comments.

The rivalry between Lukaku and Ibrahimovic has been simmering since the pair moved to Serie A during the 2019/20 season. They have been embroiled in a battle to be the number one striker in Italy, with the pair both referring to themselves as 'King' on social media after various meetings between the Milan rivals.