Napoli’s Juan Jesus reveals Inter’s Francesco Acerbi racially abused him

Napoli defender Juan Jesus has revealed that Inter defender Francesco Acerbi racially abused the Brazilian during the two sides’ recent Serie A clash.

Jesus was on the scoresheet yesterday, as Napoli held the Partenopei to a 1-1 draw and denied them from going further clear at the top of the table. 

Jesus spoke to DAZN (via La Gazzetta dello Sport) after the draw and he stated that the Italian had racially abused him in the second-half and the referee also made notes about it.

​​”Acerbi, who is a good guy, said some things that were not nice. He went a little further, but he apologized because he realized he had exaggerated. These are things that happen on the field and should stay there.”

A video did emerge later on about the incident and Jesus is seen talking to the referee and he accuses Acerbi of directly racially abused him, calling him the offensive n-word. The incident took place in the 59th minute right after Jesus was involved in a bit of a spat with the Italian.

Jesus also mimics the symbol of Serie A, to underline the commitment against racism made by the league on that very day. The referee then calls Acerbi back and, after an exchange of words, the tension between the two calms down. The referee did not hear the insult reported by the Napoli man and once the meeting was over, he took no action of any kind against Acerbi.

Kaustubh Pandey | GIFN