Napoli players, Kalidou Koulibaly and Victor Osimhen took their protest against the racist attacks they were subjected to on Sunday, October 3, to social media. The two payers used their platforms to advocate for a stop to racists abuse.
Kalidou Koulibaly and Victor Osimhen were said to be the main target of racist attacks when Napoli visited Fiorentina for a Serie A game.
After Fiorentina lost their one-goal lead in the 38th minute of the game, and Napoli took the lead in the 50th minute, Fiorentina’s supporters grew impatient and decided to start making racist chants.
Their racist chants did not change the course of the game as Napoli left the Artemio Franchi Stadium with a 2-1 victory.
After the game, Victor Osimhen took to his Instagram page to share pictures from the game. In the caption, the 22-year-old Nigerian striker urged parents to speak to their children against racism.
He wrote: “Speak to your kids, your parents make them understand how disgusting it is to hate an individual because of the color of their skin #saynotoracism”.
While Kalidou Koulibaly who served as the captain of Napoli during the Serie A game, took to his Instagram page to share a picture showing when he was telling some officials the direction of the stadium where the racists chants came from.
In the caption, the 30-year-old Senegalese defender said the Fiorentina’s supporters called him a monkey during the Serie A game.
He wrote: “Fucking monkey. That’s what they called me. These people have nothing to do with sport. They need to be identified and kept out of the stadiums: forever.”
In reaction to the racists attacks Kalidou Koulibaly and Victor Osimhen suffered on Sunday, Italy and Juventus center-back Giorgio Chiellini said he was ashamed of the incident.
Despite the racists attack on Kalidou Koulibaly and Victor Osimhen, the 37-year-old Italian football icon insisted that Italy is not a racist country.
He said: “We need laws and rules that are applied. I was ashamed, as an Italian and a Tuscan, also because Italy is not a racist country for me.
“Something more must be done, otherwise from outside we give a bad image of ourselves.”
An official statement from Fiorentina has condemned the racists to attack two Napoli players. The club announced that they will provide CCTV footage to authorities to identify those behind the racist attacks.
