Carlo Ancelotti: Napoli will walk off if racist abuse aimed at Kalidou Koulibaly by Inter Milan fans is repeated
Ancelotti said that Napoli asked officials three times to call off the match with Inter Milan to no avail
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Carlo Ancelotti claimed that Napoli asked officials three times to call off the club's match with Inter Milan to no avail after Senegalese centre-back Kalidou Koulibaly was subjected to vile racist abuse by home supporters at the San Siro.
Koulibaly was sent off in the 81st minute for sarcastically applauding the referee's decision to award him a yellow card for a mistimed tackle, having clearly been upset by the continuous racist chanting.
Ancelotti was exasperated that no action had been taken during the game, and continued to state that if there was a repeat of the incident Napoli would have to take matters into their own hands and walk off the pitch, even if it means forfeiting the match.
“Koulibaly was certainly irritable," Ancelotti said after the game. "Usually, he is very calm and professional, but he was subjected to monkey noises throughout the game.
"We asked three times for some action to be taken, but the match continued. We keep being told play can be halted, but when? After four or five announcements?
"Maybe we have to take matters into our own hands next time and stop play ourselves. They’ll probably make us lose the game if we walk off, but we are prepared to do it. It’s not good for Italian football, seeing this.”
After the match, Koulibaly responded to the abuse on Twitter:
“I’m disappointed by the defeat, but above all at leaving my brothers,” Koulibaly later wrote on Twitter. “But I am proud of the colour of my skin. Proud to be French, Senegalese, Neapolitan: a man.”
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