Napoli players kneel before Saturday’s Serie A clash against Atalanta in a public show of support for teammate Juan Jesus.
This display came after a sports tribunal ruled that Inter Milan defender Francesco Acerbi will not be punished for allegedly uttering a racist insult against Jesus, who is black, during a Serie A match because there was insufficient evidence.
The alleged incident occurred on March 17 and was made public when Jesus informed the referee that Acerbi made a racist comment to him. Acerbi has denied using an offensive word.
An Italian league judge said this week that while it was clear Acerbi insulted Jesus, they did not have “the minimum level of reasonable certainty” that it was racist in nature.
Napoli considered the decision “surprising.”
Atalanta won 3-0.