The Senegalese defender of Naples Kalidou Koulibaly was again the target of racist insults at the end of the match in Bergamo against Atalanta (3-1) on Sunday April 3. The Bergamasque club promised Monday to act against these actions.
“Any behavior that does not comply with the principles of civility and education, which have always been defended by this club, will be vigorously combated.“, promised Atalanta in a press release published on its site. “We do not want to give visibility to individuals who have nothing to do in our environment and therefore, without clamor or generalizations, we will act with the competent authorities in order to protect the image of the club and the city of Bergamo.“, added the club.
A video circulated on social networks on Sunday where racist insults addressed to Kalidou Koulibaly were heard in the Bergamo stadium, when he left the lawn after the meeting. The Senegalese defender has already been the target of such behavior several times this season, notably in Florence and recently in Verona.
He received the support of the Senegalese Federation: “As usual, some ‘bergamaschi’ supporters, of Atalanta de Bergamo, have again repeated their human nonsense by uttering despicable and racist insults to our captain and leader Kalidou Koulibaly“, she wrote on her Twitter account, believing that “these brainless idiots have no place in a stadium“.
As with their sad habits, some bergamaschi supporters, from Atalanta de Bergamo, have again repeated their human nonsense by uttering despicable and racist insults aimed at our captain and leader Kalidou Koulibaly.
— FSF (@Fsfofficielle) April 3, 2022
The return of spectators to the stands this season, after a year of almost complete matches behind closed doors due to the pandemic, has been accompanied by the return of racist incidents in Italy. In addition to Kalidou Koulibaly, his Nigerian teammate Victor Osimhen and the French goalkeeper of AC Milan Mike Maignan have notably been the target of racist cries. However, sanctions remain rare in the face of this endemic phenomenon in Italy.