Luigi De Magistris, the Mayor of Naples, has shared his disappointment at the failure to halt Inter versus Napoli on Wednesday night when repeated racial chants were directed toward Napoli defender Kalidou Koulibaly.
“The game absolutely should have been halted, as was repeatedly requested. It certainly caused a state of anger and agitation in our players.
“I really appreciated Koulibaly’s tweet, which I shared because I think it’s a message I share as a human being, Neapolitan, Italian and citizen of the world.”
De Magistris then called for the state to solve the problem of racism in Italy as a whole.
“Unfortunately racism in our country is advancing rather than receding. The task of the state must be to curb it, but we also have government representatives who incite racial discrimination, divisions based on skin colour and geographical origin.
“Sport, on the other hand, should be preserved and an example of integration and equality beyond the colour of your skin, because otherwise the Olympics make no sense.
“Football is increasingly disheartening from this point of view. On the one hand, it has bent to economic logic for too long, on the other, refereeing is sometimes absolutely unfair and shamefully unacceptable.
He concluded by accusing the football lawmakers of lacking courage.
“If you get to a point where you won’t stop a game, after repeated requests, it really means that you do not have the courage to impose what should be the rules of the sport.”
