MILAN-. The defender of Inter Milan Francesco Acerbi was sent home from the national team training camp Italia on Monday over allegations that he used racist insults against John Jesus of the Napoli in Sunday’s duel at A league.
Upon his arrival back in Milan, Acerbi flatly denied that he used offensive words.
Juan Jesus, who is black, was visibly upset in the second half when he approached the referee, who called out Acerbi.
In the television images, Juan Jesus can be seen telling the referee that Acerbi used a racist insult and pointed to the sleeve of his shirt where he has the armband with the phrase “Leave out racism” — which is part of the campaign against racism. of the league.
“I never expressed myself in a racist way, I am calm,” Acerbi told reporters at the Milan train station and was quoted by Gazzetta dello Sport. “I’ve been a professional for 20 years and I know what I’m saying, not a single word like that came out of my mouth, he’s the one who understood it. evil”.
“I am disappointed to leave the national team.”
“He misunderstood it,” Acerbi clarified. “A lot of things happen on the field, it’s normal. “You play soccer, you say certain things, but at the end of the game you shake hands and everything goes back to normal.”
Acerbi joined the Italian team in Rome before the Azurrri travel to the United States on Tuesday for their two friendlies against Venezuela and Ecuador, but the 36-year-old was replaced by Roma defender Ginaluca Mancini.
The Italian Football Federation said in a statement that in accordance with the team’s internal policy, Acerbi spoke with coach Luciano Spalleti and the players and explained his version of “the alleged racist expression” he allegedly used.
“From the defender’s perspective, pending what happens with the reconstruction of the facts in their entirety by the autonomous sports justice system, there was no defamatory, denigrating or racist intention on his part,” the Federation said.
“Even so, it was agreed to leave Acerbi out of the team for the next two friendly matches in the United States to guarantee the necessary serenity of the team and the player himself, who will return to his club today.”
Inter released a brief statement after Acerbi was left out of the squad, saying “we will meet with the player as soon as possible to understand the details of what happened last night.”
After the game Juan Jesus did not want to confirm what happened.
“What happens on the field stays on the field,” the Brazilian told streaming partner DAZN. “Acerbi apologized, he went beyond his words. He is a good boy “.
“Above all, we are adults, we can solve it on the court. He apologized, we continued and when the referee blew the whistle it all ended there. Alright”.
Acerbi and Juan Jesus hugged at the end of the game that ended in a 1-1 tie — after Juan Jesus scored the tying goal near the end against his former team.
“I hope it doesn’t happen again because he is an intelligent boy,” added Juan Jesus, 32 years old.
Acerbi was not sanctioned by the referee.
If the Italian Football Federation decides to open an investigation, Acerbi could eventually face a ban of up to 10 matches. This will depend on what they wrote in the referee report that is sent to the league’s sports judge.
Source: AP
