Inter CEO Beppe Marotta was clearly expressing his feelings about the decision of Milan Skriniar not to extend his contract when he made statements about the captain’s armband “representing certain values.”
This according to today’s print edition of Milan-based newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport, via FCInterNews, who report that the CEO’s remarks were a dig at the 27-year-old, who has been permanently stripped of the armband.
Skriniar had been wearing the captain’s armband at Inter on a regular basis since team captain Samir Handanovic dropped out of the starting eleven.
However, this was concurrent to contract extension negotiations with the club, which have now concluded with the player declining to extend and instead choosing to leave in the summer.
The Slovakian has been stripped of the armband, and whilst he will play for the rest of the season, he will never again do so as captain.
Marotta has given an explanation of this on a couple of occasion, with the executive’s statements themed around the idea that the armband represents certain sporting values.
The CEO has intimated that a player must be able to show these values, or else be inadmissible as a candidate to captain the team.
It can be clearly inferred, the Gazzetta suggest, that Marotta is making his feelings about Skriniar known with how he’s spoken about the situation with the captain’s armband.
Whilst the Nerazzurri executive has always gone to great lengths to stress that he respects the player’s decision and considers him a trustworthy model professional, he has taken a dig at Skriniar by suggesting that the player’s lack of loyalty in declining to extend his contract means he cannot be a candidate for the armband.
