Referee Federico La Penna has received criticism for his “superficial” handling of an alleged racism incident in yesterday’s Serie A draw between Inter Milan and Napoli.

Today’s print edition of Rome-based newspaper Corriere dello Sport, via FCInterNews, argue that if there was indeed a racist remark from Inter defender Francesco Acerbi, La Penna dealt with the situation wrongly.

Reports emerged after yesterday’s match at the San Siro of a racist remark by Inter defender Francesco Acerbi.

Napoli defender Juan Jesus had told referee La Penna that the Nerazzurri player had used a racist slur against him.

After the match, Jesus said that he had received an apology from Acerbi.

The Brazilian seemed content to forgive the Inter defender for the incident.

But from the standpoint of the referee, that is not necessarily what should have happened.

La Penna Criticized For “Superficial” Handling Of Alleged Racism Incident In Inter Vs Napoli

Referee La Penna decided not to do anything consequential in response to the alleged incident.

Napoli defender Jesus had informed the match official of what Acerbi allegedly said to him.

And there was a conversation with La Penna. But it didn’t result in any sanction for the Nerazzurri player.

The Corriere argue that this is the wrong way for the match official to handle the situation.

Scandalous racism incidents have sadly continued to mark Italian football in recent years.

The most high-profile incident this season saw AC Milan goalkeeper Mike Maignan receive racist chants from Udinese fans during an away match in Friuli.

In that match, the referee had decided not to stop the match, but simply paused it. That decision received criticism, as it was seen as not sufficiently discouraging or punishing the racist abuse.

And in the view of the Corriere, it was a similar story with La Penna yesterday.

The match official clearly prioritized getting on with the match by restarting play.

But when it comes to dealing with racism in the game, that should be the priority rather than getting on with the match, the newspaper argues.