ROME:   Italian referees’ fear of enacting the ‘three step rule’ over racist abuse of players have forced Napoli coach Carlo Ancelotti to warn of a mid-match walkout.

Match officials in Serie A have been reluctant to issue public address warnings and undertake further santions on receiving players’ complaints about abuse from hooligan fans.

The latest such incident occured during last week’s match between Internazionale and Napoli in Milan when home fans subjected the visitors’ Kalidou Koulibaly to repeated racist abuse.

Inter have been ordered to play their next two home matches behind closed doors but Kouliba;y has also been banned for two games.

Ancelotti said: “We asked three times for the match to be halted because of racist chants. Announcements were made but the match continued. Next time we’ll stop the match by leaving the pitch, even if that means maybe forfeiting the match.”

The officials’ inaction led, so Ancelotti believed, to the defender’s expulsion 10 minutes from time.  The Senegal international was shown two yellow cards in quick succession, the second for sarcastically applauding the referee after being shown the first.

Ancelotti added: “Koulibaly was agitated and nervous, which is normal. It’s not good for us and it’s not good for Italian football.”

Napoli lost 1-0 with Lautaro Martinez, after Koulibaly’s expulsion, scoring a stoppage-time winner for Inter against the visiting 10 men.

Koulibaly, born in France to Senegalese parents, tweeted later: “I’m sorry about the defeat and especially to have left my brothers! But I am proud of the color of my skin. Of being French, Senegalese, Neapolitan: a man.”

In April 2017 Pescara’s Ghana midfielder Sulley Muntari walked off the pitch during a Serie A game after failing to persuade the referee to halt the game at Cagliari during which he was pilloried by home fans.

Internazionale, in a statement, said:

In response to the events that took place during Inter vs. Napoli on Wednesday evening, and the consequent decision reached by the Lega Nazionale’s Sports Court for Serie A, [FC Internazionale] would like to reaffirm that since 9 March 1908, Inter has represented integration, hospitality and progressiveness.

These characteristics have defined the history of Milan – a city that stands for inclusion and respect. Together with our city, we have always been fighting to help create a future free of discrimination.

We are committed to promoting these values wherever we operate and they have always been a source of pride for the Club. Inter is present in 29 countries across the world, from Cambodia to Colombia, working with thousands of children involved in the Inter Campus project.

The aim is to restore the right to play for those who are often in precarious circumstances – the importance of such activities has also been recognised by the United Nations.

From that night 110 years ago when our founders set us on our journey, we have always said no to any form of discrimination. That is why we feel obliged today, once again, to reiterate that anyone who does not understand or accept our history – this Club’s history – is not one of us.

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