Napoli say they find it “astonishing” that Italy defender Francesco Acerbi was not sanctioned over allegations of racism against their player Juan Jesus.
Inter Milan’s Acerbi was implicated by his opponent in the closing stages of a 1-1 draw earlier this month, with Jesus briefly pausing the match to report the matter to the referee.
But Acerbi will face no further action after defender Jesus’ claims were dismissed by a Serie A sports judge due to a lack of evidence.
In a statement, Napoli said: “The principle of the greatest likelihood of an event, which exists in sports justice and which appears clear from the dynamics of the incident and the apology offered on the pitch, simply vanishes in this judgement.
“We find it astonishing.
“If what happened on the pitch ‘is certainly compatible with the expression of offensive comments (…) by the Inter player, who does not deny that they were offensive and threatening,’ then why was Acerbi not sanctioned in any way?
“If, as the judgement itself reads, ‘there was certainly proof of an insult,’ why did the sports judge decide to take no action to punish the responsible party?
“We find that even more astonishing.
“Napoli will no longer take part in anti-racism and anti-discrimination initiatives run by football institutions that are merely symbolic, but we will continue to organise them ourselves, as we have always done, with renewed conviction and determination.”
Acerbi protested his innocence but agreed to withdraw from the national squad for this week’s games against Venezuela and Ecuador after discussing the matter with manager Luciano Spalletti.
Serie A sports judge Gerardo Mastrandrea considered the case against Acerbi, speaking to both men, others present on the pitch and also consulting recordings of the incident, but found insufficient proof to support Jesus’ own testimony.
Acerbi, who faced potentially serious sanctions had he been found guilty, has been cleared to turn out again for Inter when their league schedule resumes on April 1.
Mastrandrea’s ruling concluded: “In this case the minimum level of reasonable certainty regarding the discriminatory content of the offence committed is not reached.
“Without calling into question the good faith of the Napoli player, it appears to have been perceived only by ‘offended’ footballer without the support of any external evidence, be it audio, video or even testimonial.
“Discriminatory conduct, due to its intrinsic severity and intolerability, especially when it refers to the person’s race, skin colour or religion, must be sanctioned with the utmost severity in accordance with the Code of Sports Justice and the rules international sporting events.
“But it is nevertheless necessary that the imposition of such burdensome sanctions is correspondingly assisted by a minimum amount of evidence, or at least by serious, precise and consistent evidence in order to achieve reasonable certainty.”
Udinese 1-1 Napoli: Struggling Bianconeri grab last-gasp home draw
Napoli were held to a 1-1 draw at relegation-battling Udinese in Serie A on Monday after a stoppage-time goal by forward Isaac Success cancelled out a Victor Osimhen header.
Osimhen nodded home to give Napoli the lead in the 51st minute after Matteo Politano sent a lofted cross from the right into the middle of the box, and the Nigerian striker headed the ball in off the left post.
The Nigerian thought he doubled their advantage in the 80th minute, but his effort was ruled out for offside, before Success bundled in the leveller in stoppage time, netting from a Thomas Kristensen header.
Napoli moved up to eighth on 51 points from 35 games and are nine points behind both fifth-placed Atalanta and Roma, in sixth.
Data Debrief:
Osimhen is the third Napoli player to score in six matches in a row against a single team in Serie A in the three-points-for-a-win era, after Gonzalo Higuain against Lazio between 2013 and 2016 and Dries Mertens against Bologna between 2016 and 2019.
Despite fighting back to earn a point, Udinese have now failed to win three games under a new manager for the first time since August-September 2010 under Francesco Guidolin.
Crystal Palace 4-0 Manchester United: Olise stars as Eagles soar to thumping victory
Manchester United suffered a humiliating 4-0 defeat to a rampant Crystal Palace as the pressure piled on Erik ten Hag.
United were swatted aside with ease at Selhurst Park on Monday, with Michael Olise scoring twice in a superb performance from the Eagles, whose fantastic form under Oliver Glasner continued.
Olise opened the scoring early on before Jean-Philippe Mateta doubled Palace's lead before half-time – Tyrick Mitchell getting in on the act just prior to the hour.
Casemiro's calamitous error resulted in Olise hammering in a sublime long-range strike to compound United’s misery, and the eighth-placed Red Devils, who face Premier League leaders Arsenal on Sunday, are in real danger of missing out on the European places.
United's ramshackle defence was left exposed just 12 minutes in – Olise able to skip easily beyond Casemiro's shocking attempt at a challenge, drive into the box and, under little pressure, send a finish into the bottom-right corner.
Olise, who has been linked with a move to United, might have doubled his tally soon after, but Mateta could not get out of the way of his team-mate's goal-bound strike.
United seemed to have made their luck count when a goalmouth scramble resulted in the ball nestling into the back of Dean Henderson's net, but it was disallowed for Rasmus Hojlund's challenge on the Palace goalkeeper.
Olise squandered a brilliant chance to make it 2-0 when he elected to try and round Andre Onana at the other end, but the Eagles soon had their second when Mateta brilliantly slammed home from a tight angle after comfortably evading Jonny Evans.
Casemiro saw a goal ruled out for offside in the 53rd minute, but United's resolve was soon broken again as Palace swiftly reasserted their dominance.
Following two fine Onana saves, Mitchell tucked in from close range after United failed to clear their lines from a set-piece.
It was 4-0 in the 66th minute – Casemiro again at fault as he capitulated under pressure from Daniel Munoz. He teed up Olise, who curled a powerful effort down the centre of Onana’s goal to cap a famous win for Palace, who hit the woodwork late on through Odsonne Edouard.
Palace's perfect night
While the attention will rightly be on just how bad United were, plaudits have to go to Palace. They have now won four of their last five league matches, scoring 13 goals in that run, and it has included victories over Liverpool, Newcastle United and now Man United.
Palace may be destined for a mid-table finish this term, but there is a real sense of excitement around Selhurst Park ahead of next season, with Glasner's feet now firmly under the table.
The Eagles are now unbeaten in four straight home league matches against United, who they have completed the double over for the first time.
While Olise starred, Mateta's thumping second was a real highlight, too. He has scored in each of Glasner's first six home Premier League games, becoming the first player to do so in the competition since Alan Shearer for Kevin Keegan in 1996-97 (first nine).
Problems pile up for Ten Hag as United's season reaches a new low
Harry Maguire and Bruno Fernandes joined United’s lengthy injury list in the build-up to this match, but even with those absences, United's fragility exposed deeper-rooted issues than just injuries.
Their defending was truly terrible in the first half, with Olise offered the freedom of Selhurst Park for his opener, as Casemiro and Evans struggled to cope – Kobbie Mainoo and Christian Eriksen offering little protection ahead of them.
United have now shipped 81 goals in 48 games in all competitions this season, their most in a single campaign since 1976-77 (also 81).
With Arsenal, fellow European hopefuls Newcastle and then Brighton still to play, those defensive frailties are a scary proposition for Ten Hag, who cut a glum figure on the touchline, and his team’s hopes of qualifying European football through their league placing is now out of their hands, given Chelsea are now above them.
The players were applauded by the travelling support after the whistle, but there will need to be a huge reaction against Arsenal.
Terzic: Dortmund must improve on last week's performance to win at PSG
Borussia Dortmund have a 1-0 lead going into the second leg of their Champions League semi-final at Paris Saint-Germain, but to win the tie they would need an improvement in their performance, coach Edin Terzic said on Monday.
Dortmund have never won at PSG in their previous three visits, and their last match at the Parc des Princes ended in a 2-0 loss during the group stage in September.
"We showed a good game last week, which gave us that little lead. But that performance probably won't be enough to get us into the final," Terzic told reporters ahead of Tuesday's match.
"We have to do everything together tomorrow, with a good plan, with a good idea. Paris will certainly do better than last week. We want to earn this ticket to the final. We'll tackle that together tomorrow."
Terzic also noted the improvement in his side since September's loss, saying: "We hadn't really found ourselves yet. We lacked courage in many areas. In the two games in Dortmund, we then showed that we can play very differently against PSG.
Dortmund held PSG in December in their second group-stage match before beating them on May 1.
"They have a mission, we have a huge dream... there are enough things we have to do better because they will do better," Terzic said.
"Part of the success was bringing that intensity onto the pitch. If we need to, we'll run another 20 kilometres."
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