Inter Milan defender Francesco Acerbi allegedly racially abused Napoli counterpart Juan Jesus during this evening’s Serie A clash.
Spanish outlet Marca report that the Partenopei player complained to the match official of a racial slur being aimed at him by Acerbi.
Just before the hour mark in this evening’s Serie A match at the San Siro, there was a heated incident between Acerbi and Jesus.
It was not immediately clear what the problem.
Clearly, whatever had taken place was off the ball. It was brought to the attention of referee Federico La Penna moments after Inter had played the ball forward on the counterattack.
Since there was no reason for the two players to clash physically, it seemed apparent that the problem had to be something that had been said.
And according to Spanish outlet Marca, based on what Jesus appeared to say to the referee, the words from Acerbi were far from innocent.
Francesco Acerbi Allegedly Racially Abuses Juan Jesus
According to what Marca claims, Jesus can be seen complaining to La Penna that Acerbi had insulted him by calling him a racial slur.
The 32-year-old former Nerazzurri and Roma defender is black.
Clearly, Jesus wanted La Penna to address whatever Acerbi had said to him.
However, the match official decided not to. After listening to what the Napoli player had to say to him, he decided to continue on with play.
Meanwhile, Jesus addressed the incident after the match.
The 32-year-old spoke to Italian broadcaster DAZN, via FCInterNews.
Jesus didn’t want to comment on what specifically Acerbi had said, however.
“What happens on the pitch, stays on the pitch,” the Brazilian said.
“But then he apologized to me and we moved on.”
Jesus said that “Once the referee blows his whistle, it’s all over.”
“He’s a good guy,” the Napoli defender said of Acerbi.
“On the pitch, he likes to talk and give you a hard time. But he apologized, because this time he went too far with what he said.”
“He’s an intelligent guy,” Jesus added.
