Inter Milan will meet with defender Francesco Acerbi to discuss an alleged racism incident in the coming days.
This according to Italian news outlet FCInterNews. The outlet anticipate that the meeting could take place at the club headqaurters, or at the training ground.
Inter defender Acerbi was at the centre of an incident of alleged racism during yesterday’s Serie A clash between the Nerazzurri and Napoli.
The episode concerned an argument between the 36-year-old and Napoli defender Juan Jesus.
The Brazilian told referee Federico La Penna that he had been on the end of a racist insult from Acerbi.
And this has ignited a controversy surrounding what exactly happened.
For his part, Acerbi has denied that he had said anything racist to Jesus.
The Inter defender insists that it was a “misunderstanding” that led the Napoli defender to believe that he had done so.
And now there will have to be an investigation to try and determine what really happened.
Inter To Discuss Alleged Racism Incident With Francesco Acerbi In Coming Days
Acerbi has already left the Italy national team training camp in the wake of yesterday’s incident.
And there will be the question of what sanctions the former Lazio and Sassuolo could possibly face from Italian football authorities.
The authorities will carry out their investigation. But Acerbi could potentially face a lengthy suspension if he is found to have racially abused Jesus.
Meanwhile, Inter could also potentially sanction the player.
But that will depend on the club’s own investigation.
Naturally, this will include speaking with Acerbi to get the veteran defender’s account of what happened.
According to FCIN, that meeting will take place in the next few days.
Acerbi will not necessarily hold the meeting with Inter right away. But it will certainly be soon.
One possibility would be for the player to visit Inter’s headquarters to meet with the club’s directors and staff to explain his version of events.
Another would be for there to be a meeting with Acerbi at Inter’s training centre Appiano Gentile.
Acerbi will presumably be turning up to training later this week.
The 36-year-old is not part of the Italian national team squad during the international break.
As such, he will therefore be expected in training with the rest of the squad members not currently on international duty.
The players are back in training on Thursday. So that would be the day by which the meeting takes place, although it could potentially be before then as well.
