Inter to play behind closed doors after Koulibaly abuse

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Inter Milan were ordered to play their next two home games behind closed doors on Thursday after their supporters racially insulted Napoli defender Kalidou Koulibaly during Wednesday's Serie A match at San Siro.

Koulibaly was also handed a two-match ban by Serie A's disciplinary tribunal after he was sent off in the 81st minute for sarcastically applauding the referee for booking him.

Napoli said on their club website that the Senegalese player was subject to “racist chants” during the match, without giving further details, while their coach Carlo Ancelotti said some fans made animal noises throughout the entire game.

In addition to the next two home matches against Benevento, in the Italian Cup, and Sassuolo in Serie A being staged behind closed doors, the section of the San Siro stadium occupied by Inter's “ultra” fans has also been ordered to be kept closed for a third game in the league against Bologna.

Football fan dies amid clashes in Milan

Forensic investigators work in an area near a street where Inter Milan soccer fan has died after being struck by a vehicle during clashes with Napoli supporters near Milan's San Siro stadium before Serie A match between the teams in Milan, December 27, 2018. /VCG Photo

An Inter Milan soccer fan has died after being struck by a vehicle during clashes with Napoli supporters outside Milan's San Siro stadium before Wednesday's Serie A game between the teams, police said Thursday.

Milan police chief Marcello Cardona said that the 35-year-old supporter had died in hospital. Three people had been arrested in connection with the clashes but it was not known who was driving the vehicle which hit the fan.

“Just before the match, a coach carrying the Naples ultras was attacked by more than one hundred supporters from Inter,” said Cardona.

“The Nerazzurri (Inter) fans attacked the Neapolitans with bars and sticks and immediately there was a rush of people.”

Cardona said the victim was struck by one of the vehicles trying to escape the trouble.

Cardona said police would request that the part of the San Siro stadium which hosts Inter's hardcore “ultra” fans be closed until the end of March and that Inter fans be barred from attending away games for the rest of the season.

A two-match ban for Koulibaly

Napoli's Senegalese defender Kalidou Koulibaly (2nd, L) exits the pitch after receiving a red card as Napoli's Italian coach Carlo Ancelotti (C) looks on during the Italian Serie A football match between Inter Milan and Napoli, December 26, 2018. /VCG Photo

The mayor of Milan, Giuseppe Sala, apologized to Koulibaly over the insults, describing them as “a disgrace” on his Facebook page.

“It was a shameful act against a respected athlete, who proudly bears the color of his skin, and also, to a lesser degree, against the many people who go to the stadium to support their team and be with their friends.”

Napoli lost 1-0 after conceding a stoppage-time goal, leaving them nine points behind Serie A leaders Juventus. Like Koulibaly, their forward Lorenzo Insigne was also given a two-match ban after his sending off in stoppage time.

Koulibaly was booked for fouling Matteo Politano and then dismissed for his reaction to the decision, although Ancelotti said the player was already upset and on edge over his treatment.

“I'm disappointed by the defeat and above all to have left my brothers,” said Koulibaly on Twitter. “But I am proud of the color of my skin. Proud to be French, Senegalese, Neapolitan: a man.”

Napoli club retweeted a piece from Senegal Football with the words "say no to racism".

The FARE network, which monitors discrimination in European football, said it was a familiar tale.

“Once again in Italian football. Player is racially abused, the referee fails to act, player is angry and gets sent off. The same cycle again and again,” it tweeted.

Ancelotti said Napoli asked an Italian federation (FIGC) delegate three times during the match for the game to be suspended but, instead, public announcements were read out asking fans to stop.

The coach said Napoli would walk off the pitch if there was a similar incident in the future.

Inter Milan coach Luciano Spalletti added that it was the sort of behavior which was holding back Italian football.

“If 65,000 people come and watch the match at Christmas, they want to see something else,” he said. “We need a change of mentality (if) our objective is to bring our football back to the top in Europe.”

Source(s): Reuters