Napoli’s players kneeled before their Saturday match following the club’s condemnation of the decision to absolve Inter Milan’s Francesco Acerbi of alleged racist remarks directed at Juan Jesus.
A sports judge determined that Acerbi’s remarks towards Napoli defender Jesus could have been offensive.
However, the judge concluded that there was insufficient evidence to classify them as racist.
Jesus, aged 32, expressed disappointment at the ruling, while Napoli described it as “astonishing.” The Serie A club declared their decision not to partake in anti-racism initiatives ahead of their match against Atalanta on Saturday.
Consequently, the players removed the ‘keep racism out’ patch from the right sleeve of their jerseys.
Supporters at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona exhibited anti-racism signs and voiced their backing for Jesus. During the match between Napoli and Inter earlier in March, play was momentarily halted when Jesus approached the referee regarding Acerbi’s remarks.
But the Italian federation (FIGC) said there was “no defamatory, denigrating or racist intent” to the comments and the case was dismissed by a Serie A sports judge on Tuesday because of a lack of evidence.
Acerbi, who withdrew from Italy’s friendlies during the international break, refutes the accusations.
Napoli, the reigning Serie A champions, suffered a 3-0 defeat against Atalanta, leaving Francesco Calzona’s team in seventh place in the current season’s table.