Inter Milan's old defender, Francesco Acerbi, was officially expelled from the Italian national team because he was suspected of committing racist acts against Napoli defender, Juan Jesus.
The incident occurred during the Italian League continuation between Inter Milan vs Napoli at the San Siro, Sunday (17/3/2024).
When the match was an hour into the game, the referee received a complaint from Juan Jesus.
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Quoted from Sky Italia, the Brazilian defender who also played for Inter complained that Acerbi called him 'negr*' (N-word).
This word is an offensive term which is often categorized as a racial slur.
This case was also investigated by the FIGC and resulted in the decision to expel the 36 year old defender from Luciano Spalletti's team, Monday (18/3/2024).
Acerbi has not been completely proven guilty because the court is still waiting for the decision from the follow-up investigation.
In a post-match interview, Juan Jesus admitted that Acerbi had apologized for his actions.
"He apologized and we can forget about it. When the referee blew the final whistle, that was all we left behind," he said.
"I know Acerbi is a good guy and he apologized because he realized he went a little overboard with some words."
"He's a smart guy, so I hope he learns from that and doesn't do it again," added Jesus.
Acerbi himself, through his agent, Federico Pastorello, denied having uttered racist words.
"Francesco said that there was an argument with Jesus on the pitch, but he did not use racist words," he told Tuttomercatoweb.
"He never said 'negr*' and I believe Francesco's words."
"He is a child with strong morality. He and Jesus have clarified matters between them," Pastorello added.
The FIGC decided to wait for an independent report from the sports court to determine whether the former Lazio and AC Milan player deserved to be sentenced or not.
According to Italian regulations, racist acts in matches can result in severe sanctions.
The punishment can be a suspension of 10 matches or even more, depending on the seriousness of the offense and the strength of the evidence.
In order not to disturb the team's focus, Acerbi will be replaced by AS Roma defender, Gianluca Mancini, for the tour to the United States.
On FIFA Matchday this month, the Italian national team is scheduled to face Venezuela (21/3/2024) and Ecuador (24/3/2024).
"From what the Nerazzurri defender said, it is clear that he had no intention to slander, belittle or be racist."
"However, we still chose to exclude Acerbi from the next two matches in the United States."
"The player will return to the club today and Roma defender Gianluca Mancini will be called up," read a FIGC statement.
The Inter Milan vs Napoli match ended in a 1-1 draw.
The Nerazzurri took the lead through Matteo Darmian's goal in the first half.
However, Simone Inzaghi's troops' lead was shattered by Juan Jesus' equalizing goal in the 81st minute.
This result stopped Inter's winning streak at 10 in a row.
Despite this, Inter is still firmly at the top of the Italian League standings with a surplus of 14 points over runners-up, AC Milan.