Leaving Italian football to avoid racism, as Basaksehir's Senegalese defender Demba Ba has suggested? For Napoli central defender Kalidou Koulibaly, "it would mean agreeing with the racists. They're the ones who have to leave. We have to stay, to show that we're always there." In a long interview about his origins and racism in Italian stadiums, given to L'Equipe magazine and the newspaper's TV program, which aired today, Koulibaly lambasted the authorities who "hesitate to enforce" existing measures against racist boos and prohibited behavior in the stands: "I've never yet seen fans banned from stadiums, really heavy fines, or penalty points. We need an example that leaves its mark." Koulibaly details his experiences with racism in stadiums, from the first (Lazio-Napoli in the 2015-2016 season) to Inter-Napoli on December 26th: "These are imbeciles who would never shout like that if they were in front of me," says the Napoli defender, "but they're in a crowd, they're anonymous, and it's difficult to identify them. There's a real battle to be fought. Other countries are ahead, in England, where the most followed league in the world is played, the culprits are banned from stadiums for life. We need to take drastic measures."
EDITORIAL TEAM
Choose the social channel you want to subscribe to