Inter Milan’s Francesco Acerbi (36) has defended himself against accusations of racism – and thus called the alleged victim Juan Jesus onto the scene. The Brazilian now vehemently contradicts the Italian’s statements
A new racism incident in Serie A is making headlines. The facts in a nutshell: Inter player Francesco Acerbi is said to have racially insulted Napoli’s Juan Jesus late on Sunday evening during the 1-1 draw between the two traditional Italian clubs. There have already been the first consequences: the Milan player was excluded from the Squadra Azzurra for the upcoming international test matches as a precautionary measure – and the intention was not to keep the matter simmering.
However, because Acerbi defended himself on Monday (“I didn’t say anything racist, that’s for sure”), Juan Jesus has now spoken out again – and wanted to set the record straight. According to the SSC player, Acerbi had apologized to him during the game, but this was no longer mentioned in the Milan player’s statement. “For me, the matter was closed yesterday with Acerbi’s apology – and to be honest, I would have preferred not to go into this shameful matter again, which I had to deal with,” the former Inter professional (2012 to 2016) wrote on Instagram on Monday evening.
Juan Jesus: “I will not tolerate this “
“But I read Acerbi’s statements today – and they are in total contrast to what really happened,” said the Brazilian, stressing that the Milan man had apologized to him directly and therefore knew “what he really said on the pitch”. In his view, this could also be proven – with video recordings of the game, of the scene in question. Thanks to “lip-reading, it can be proven that he asked me for forgiveness.”
Juan Jesus continued: “I will not tolerate this. Racism must be fought – here and now. Acerbi told me: ‘Go away, you’re just a Negro’. After my protests to the referee, he then admitted that he had made a mistake. He apologized.” The apparently racially insulted player also explained that Acerbi had said in this context that for him personally, the term “Negro is an insult like any other”.
Juan Jesus was surprised that Acerbi had now played down the incident: “Today he is changing his version of events and claiming that there was no racist incident.” The fact is that there are videos circulating on the internet which suggest that Juan Jesus complained to referee Federico La Penna about an alleged insult from Acerbi and probably said that he had been called a “negro”. There are also scenes that suggest the apology mentioned by Juan Jesus from the Inter rookie.
At the end of his message, the Neapolitan wrote: “I have nothing more to add.” And then added a hashtag: “No to racism. “
