Juventus captain Giorgio Chiellini 'ashamed as an Italian and a Tuscan' by racist abuse of Napoli players at Fiorentina

Published 06/10/2021 at 09:00 GMT

Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini has said "something more must be done" after three Napoli players were racially abused during their side's win at Fiorentina. Kalidou Koulibaly and Victor Osimhen detailed the abuse they received on social media. "I was ashamed, as an Italian and a Tuscan, also because Italy is not a racist country for me," Chiellini said.

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Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini has called for tougher sanctions following racist abuse aimed at Napoli players by Fiorentina fans.

The Juventus captain said he was “ashamed as an Italian and a Tuscan” after Napoli team-mates Kalidou Koulibaly, Victor Osimhen and Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa were subjected to racist abuse during Sunday’s 2-1 win in Florence.

Koulibaly and Osimhen detailed their experience at Stadio Artemio Franchi on social media, with the former revealing he was called a f****** m**key” by a section of Viola supporters.

Senegal defender Koulibaly also said that racist fans must be “kept out of stadiums forever”. Osimhen, meanwhile, has urged supporters to “understand how disgusting it is to hate an individual because of the colour of their skin”.

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"We need laws and rules that are applied," Chiellini said.

"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."

The Italian Football Federation has opened an investigation into the incident.

Fiorentina have agreed to supply the authorities with CCTV footage from the match in order to help identify offending fans, and also expressed "the most firm and harsh condemnation for the episodes of racism that took place".

Last month, AC Milan began legal proceedings after racist abuse was aimed at Tiemoue Bakayoko in their game with Lazio, but it is unclear at this stage whether Napoli will take a similar approach.

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