Acerbi leaves Italian camp amid racism allegation

Inter player Francesco Acerbi left Italy’s national team training camp today amid an allegation that he racially abused Napoli defender Juan Jesus in yesterday’s league match between the 2 clubs.

Inter Milan's Francesco Acerbi has left the Italy squad for their upcoming friendlies after he was alleged to have racially abused Napoli defender Juan Jesus.https://t.co/q1xPm8QLfW pic.twitter.com/6SWpOZi7Un

— Mirror Football (@MirrorFootball) March 18, 2024

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Juan Jesus, who is Black, showed his frustration in the 2^nd half and spoke with the official, who then called over Francesco.

The videos from the match show that Juan Jesus tells the official that the Inter defender had used a racist slur. Napoli’s player was also pointing at his shirt sleeve, which had a “Keep Racism Out” badge – as part of Serie A’s anti-racism campaign.

Acerbi joined the national team today in Rome before Italy flies to the USA tomorrow for friendly games vs. Venezuela and Ecuador, but Francesco has been dropped, and the Wolves defender Gianluca Mancini took his place in the squad.

Francesco discussed the problem with Azzurri manager Luciano Spalletti and with his teammates in the national team, but despite that, he will miss the upcoming matches of his country.