Napoli released a statement after Francesco Acerbi was cleared of using racist language towards Juan Jesus, condemning the decision. The Inter defender faced a 10-match ban for alleged racially insulting the Napoli the defender, but was acquitted by the Italian Sporting Justice. Napoli have since released a statement, condemning the decision and the leagues commitment towards tackling racism:
]”Mr. Acerbi has not been sanctioned. At this point, the guilty party should, according to the sports ‘justice,’ be Juan Jesus, who would have unjustly accused a colleague. It is not reasonable to think that he misunderstood. The principle of the greater likelihood of an event, widely visible from the dynamics of the facts and from his excuses on the field, which is taken into consideration in sports justice, disappears in this sentence.
“We remain astonished. Furthermore, if what happened on the field, as stated in the verdict, ‘is certainly compatible with the expression of insults directed… by the Inter player, and not disavowed in their offensive and threatening tenor by the same,’ why not impose any sanctions on the latter?
“Moreover, as the verdict always states, ‘since the proof of the offense has certainly been reached,’ why has no decision been made by the sports ‘justice’ in this regard to punish the responsible party?
“We are even more astonished. Napoli will no longer participate in mere symbolic initiatives of football institutions against racism and discrimination; we will continue to tackle them alone, as we have always done, with renewed conviction and determination.”
