Koulibaly: No racism at Napoli

By Football Italia staff

Kalidou Koulibaly believes there is no racism at Napoli as their fans “could never have written a letter like the one Inter supporters sent Romelu Lukaku.”

Racism remains a serious issue in Italian football, with Koulibaly among those subjected to monkey chants from rival sets of fans over the years.

However, Inter ultras defended their Cagliari counterparts when the latter abused Lukaku, despite the striker being one of their own.

“These idiots who jeer at stadia would never do it in front of me, to my face,” the Senegalese told L’Equipe.

“Everyone says Italy is a country of racists, that foreigners are put off coming here for everything that you hear, but I can say that Naples is something else.

“I’m having a great time at Napoli. My family have been received very well and so have my friends. When they come to see me, they’re very happy.

“On top of that, the beauty of your surroundings here is incredible. By showing to certain people that we’re among the best teams, we can fight racism.

“If I could also win a trophy, in Italy or in Europe, this fight would have even more resonance.

“The Napoli fans could never have written a letter like the one Inter supporters sent Lukaku because there’s so much love here.

“How can they say that jeers aren’t acts of racism? It’s obvious that we’re discriminated against due to the colour of our skin.

“I’d like to see these people go through what we do. It really hurts. The rules exist and I know them, but there are still some problems applying them.

“I haven’t seen any fans banned from stadiums yet, neither have I seen any heavy fines or points docked. A strong precedent needs to be set.”

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